The Little Miss Job
by NitNat25
Summary: The Leverage team don't know what to do when they meet Parker's oldest friend, for a start she isn't really that old. When Anna Parker is unceremoniously dumped in their laps and Parker is temporarily unavailable, they have to fit her in before their mark bites back. First fanfic so reviews would be much appreciated. Rated K plus because it's not all fluff and I'm nervous :) Enjoy!
1. We have a problem

A/N: Hi :) this is my very first fanfic and it would be great if you guys could give me some reviews... even if it's just to say how much you hate it. I apologise in advance for all my British-isms and for all of the American-isms I will inevitably get wrong. Sorry this chapter's a bit short, I'm just trying to see whether it's worth continuing.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Leverage crew (and if I did the series would not be ending on Tuesday)

Enjoy... (hopefully)

* * *

Parker placed a print-out of a fingerprint on the scanner. The mechanism clunked and she walked into the room triumphantly. She smiled to herself, "There's no way someone could steal my fingerprint; it's on my finger! And even if they could, printing it out on paper wouldn't work because I have superior technology. Some people are so stupid."

"Parker you do know we can hear you?" Nate's voice said, clearly he wasn't pleased with the situation. Parker stopped in her tracks, as she remembered that there were four other people listening to her, inside her ear.

"I do now." She said before giving the room a quick once-over and stepping further into the ridiculously lavish office. She walked towards the wall safe and stopped; it wasn't locked, it wasn't even shut properly. "We have a problem, guys." Parker walked over tentatively, readying herself for the James Bond villain that was hiding round the next corner. She poked her head round, no villain.

"What problem, Parker?" Parker nudged the safe door open more; the safe was empty except for a single post-it note stuck inside the safe door.

**_Thanks for the files! Have a nice day without them if you can! Loads of hugs love and kisses, A. xox_**

"Someone's taken the files." She said. She knew the hand-writing and she knew the cheeky condescending writing style, more importantly she knew that the person who wrote it should be nowhere near Boston, let alone her con.

* * *

"What do you mean 'taken'?" Nate asked for the third time.

"Nate, there's no files." Parker said, repeating herself. She could never understand why people thought that if they repeated the question they'd get a better answer.

"What, none at all?"

"None. All gone. Zilch. Zero. Nada." She rattled off as many ways as she could think to say 'none'.

"Okay, we get the point Parker." Eliot said gruffly, clearly he wasn't in the mood for the con going wrong. No doubt he'd blame Hardison for something.

"I could probably get them back if you wanted." She said fiddling with the dial on the front of the safe; nothing had been tampered with which was odd, considering the person she'd thought had done it.

"Why didn't you say so?"

"What do you mean probably?"

"Surely if you can get them back they haven't been taken?"

"Why is it always this part that goes wrong? No doubt I'll have to be a Somerset farmer again."

The four people in her ear all started talking at once and Parker gave up. She pulled out her ear piece and shoved it in her pocket. "That's better." She couldn't hear a single thing, the world was silent. Until she rang her friend.

* * *

Hardison sighed at the rest of his team that were sprawled across the various pieces of furniture that faced the huge TV in Nate's apartment. "Nate, she took out her ear bud." Nate grumbled to himself. Eliot huffed and sighed. Sophie gave them all a 'This is all your own doing' look. Nate stood up and paced over to his kitchen. He then proceeded to pace back over to his crew when he realised he had nothing to do but wait. Wait for Parker to make herself known to the crew.

A few minutes later, someone let out a deep breath, like someone had taken a great weight off their shoulders. Although it was no one in the room, Nate still heard it loud and clear. "I'll have the files in two minutes, max. Meet me outside?" Parker's disembodied voice said. Nate smiled. Parker hadn't been caught, killed or maimed. She hadn't run off and done anything stupid (as far as he knew) and she had decided to rejoin before stabbing anyone with a fork, jumping out of a building and ignoring them for three hours or so.

So all in all, quite a success.


	2. I thought you'd never ask

**A/N: Hiya :) this is the second chapter for you lovely people as a kind of weird early Christmas present (and who doesn't love those?) for surviving the last chapter and Christmas shopping and the apocalypse (Merry Christmas! You survived the nonpocalypse!)**

**I also forgot to mention that this chapter is set early season 2 which hopefully makes it make more sense? Hopefully. Anyhow... Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately I do not own any of the Leverage characters or any their cool stuff (wish I did though...)**

* * *

Parker was in trouble, she could tell from Nate and Eliot's silent glares that she'd messed up. But instead of exploding at her when they saw her waiting on a bench, they kept quiet. She wasn't sure if she wanted them to stay like that or not. At least when they screamed at her, she knew where she stood with them.

"So how exactly did you get the files?" Nate asked, trying to break the strange vow of silence which had descended on them.

"Oh, I haven't got them yet." Parker said. "My friend has them."

"That must be one very good friend you have." Nate speculated. He knew that Parker didn't have many friends, if any, outside their quirk-filled group. He was surprised that anyone would just give something to her, especially with her track record.

"Well I've known her for ten years." Parker said. She didn't see it as all that special, but her team barely contained their confused and amused looks that someone had willingly spent that much time with someone as… different as Parker.

"I'm surprised you've managed to keep a friend for that long." Eliot said, voicing everyone's internal opinion. Eliot had taken to saying stuff out loud that no one else would dare say, especially to Parker. Being the only hitter earned you a decent amount of fear/respect; well it did to start off with.

"I know!" Eliot was caught slightly off guard as Parker happily agreed with his sarcastic comment; Parker always seemed to be able to pull the wildest comments out of thin air.

"So, where is this wondrous friend of yours?" Sophie hadn't spoken in a while; she'd resigned herself to her 'all-knowing glares' which were dealt out in situations where she knew you should have known better.

"Here." Parker said plainly. Eliot, Hardison, Sophie and Nate looked around for someone holding a file or a bag or a briefcase. Anything that was out-of-place.

"There is no one here," Eliot said, "except for some dumb little kid over there texting her boyfriend." Eliot gestured to a blonde teenager (well, a younger teenager, she looked about 13) two benches down from them. She was staring intently at her phone and seemed perfectly normal, apart from the fact she was wearing all black and was carrying an oversized black backpack, which wasn't really that odd, she was clearly just a teenager wanting to make a 'statement' that she didn't 'follow the crowd'. Right.

Parker grinned at them, "That's the best part." She said.

Hardison looked even more confused than when he first noticed the girl. "The best part is that some randomer is texting their boyfriend?" He asked, completely thrown by Parker's weird secrecy.

"No, it's that not even you guys have realised that-" Parker began excitedly.

"Spit it out." Eliot wasn't in the mood for Parker's stupid games.

"I thought you said you were with the best of the best!" The blonde girl shouted, still not looking up from her phone. She was very British and spoke almost as well as Sophie. Only Nate and Sophie identified it as from North or Central London –just somewhere posh, really–, the rest of them could barely notice the difference between British accents.

"And now the randomer is shouting on her phone. Great." Eliot huffed. This job was stressful enough without Parker mucking them about.

The girl looked over at them, Eliot prepared himself mentally for the onslaught he was about to get from being rude about her. "I'm talking to you, you nit wit. God, Parker he really is stupid."

It took a while for what the girl was saying to sink in, "How does she know your name and... **you're** Parker's friend?!"

"Awesome, huh?" The girl said standing up and swinging her backpack on her back. "That's the general reaction." The girl walked over to them, looking at each of them intently, like she was studying some great text.

"Nice set up, Park. To be honest, I thought someone was pulling my leg when they said that Parker of all people had joined a crew and here you are a whole year later and no one's been strangled, decapitated or driven to insanity!" She looked around the group, maybe that last part wasn't so true. "You're getting better at this!" She grinned.

Eliot reverted back to his usual sarcasm. "She stabbed someone with a fork once."

The girl shrugged. "That can hardly count; it was almost a year ago." Eliot was about to let the comment go, when something occurred to him.

"Wait, you know about that?" The girl shifted uncomfortably.

"I was in Serbia at the time on a heist- I mean on holiday and I saw it on the news."

"I was on the news?!" Parker looked absolutely terrified, as if the Serbians were going to jump out and grab her any moment.

The girl smiled at her, "No, the fact that someone got stabbed by a fork was on the news and a rather recognisable sketch came up. It 'accidentally' caught fire in the police storage room however and the server that the file was on got corrupted. Lucky break for you guys."

Parker relaxed but Nate, Hardison and Eliot all tensed at the idea of a teenager knowing all about them for that long. "You knew about all of us?"

"No, I thought it was just Parker being a crazy loner psycho," she paused and smiled again. She smiled a lot, which made the rest of the team simultaneously more relaxed and more terrified at the same time. She could be another Sophie for all they knew. "Turns out she was just being a crazy psycho."

Parker pulled a face and punched the girl's arm. The girl stuck her tongue out at her and giggled. "You're not funny."

"I am." She said indignantly.

Sophie frowned, as cute as the family reunion was, she didn't like not knowing people's names. Ironic for her, but still. "Does Parker's guardian angel have a name?"

The girl scowled slightly, "I'm not Parker's-" She gave up on protesting and answered the question instead. "Anna. Do you guys have names?"

"No." Eliot said gruffly. He wasn't a fan of annoying little girls, especially annoying little girls that knew who he was.

"A guy without a name? Lovely. Any of the rest of you not have names?" The crew looked at her, they weren't sure if she was actually hazardous or just mildly irritating. Probably both. "Oh come on guys, I gave you mine, now you give me yours."

"My name is slightly more hazardous than yours." Eliot said. Well, that was one way of putting it. Here was some sarcastic little teenager throwing around rude comments about his team (well one member specifically) and then she had the cheek to ask for his name. Eliot Spencer did not just throw his name about for any old reason; it had certain… connotations from the old days.

"Well, Hartwright doesn't seem to think so." Everyone looked at her, confused. Clearly, that was supposed to mean something but they hadn't got a clue what it was supposed to mean.

"Wait, Hartwright? As in London Hartwright?" Sophie asked. Sophie smiled to herself, clearly she knew more about Anna than Anna suspected.

"Yeah, what about it?" Anna asked.

"That makes you-" Sophie grinned as she pieced the puzzle together. "I know you!"

"You do?" Anna suddenly looked terrified. She liked hiding in the shadows; she didn't people knowing her when she didn't already know them.

"Yeah. You're Anna Parker; I definitely know who you are. You think that even from across the pond, I haven't heard of some of the riots you've caused down at The Corner?" Anna smiled; someone who knew her for all the right reasons. Sophie extended her hand, "Sophie Devereaux, pleased to make your acquaintance."

Anna looked absolutely shocked, but not in bad way. She looked like someone had introduced to the most famous person on the planet. She shook Sophie's hand, over enthusiastically. "You're **the** Sophie Devereaux?!" Sophie nodded, Anna's face lit up and she giggled. "You're like, a complete legend on The Corner! Wow, you're friends with Parker and she never even mentioned that you were you! That's crazy, Parker! Do you know who this is?" Parker looked up from her daze, unless she was interested in the conversation she zoned out completely and went off to wherever her mind went off to.

"It's Sophie." She said simply. Anna rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, the best grifter London's ever seen." Sophie looked a bit sheepish, which was surprising for someone so clearly aware of how good she was at what she did. "How do you know Hartwright?" She asked.

"I used to," she paused trying to think of the right word, "acquire things for him."

"Me too." The silence was awkward for everyone except Sophie and Anna, who shared a knowing look. They both understood the use of the past tense; Hartwright wasn't the most… relaxed of bosses.

Nate broke the silence again, he was frowning at something. "Wait, what's The Corner? Is it an actual place, or a group or a-"

"It's a London thing." Sophie and Anna's synchronised voices cut through Nate's rambling.

"Do you two know each other?" He asked, sceptical of their sudden telepathy.

"No." They said again in unison, sharing another smile.

"Then how do you-" Nate began but once again was interrupted by Sophie and Anna's simple reply:

"It's a London thing." Clearly Nate wasn't going to get any more information out of them. Eliot sighed again; he wanted to go back the apartment and cook or watch the game rather than stand outside in mid-December and freeze to death listening to some kid's snarky comments.

"Oh great, more secrets." Eliot said to himself, unfortunately Anna's hearing was considerably better than he was expecting.

"Not my fault." She said.

"How is that not your fault?" Hardison said, chipping into the conversation. For once Hardison was agreeing with Eliot. This didn't happen very often, and everyone that noticed it (so just Sophie) smiled quietly to themselves.

"Well, if the lunatic who runs The Corner find out that we told you guys about it. Well, let's just say he's not exactly the most rational of people." Anna smiled at them but they frowned back, clearly this needed a better explanation. "He also just bought new flick knives for his entire crew for his birthday; I had to leave mine at the airport."

Eliot shrugged, like he didn't care for what she was saying. "Just don't let him find out."

Anna laughed nervously at Eliot's reply. "He'd probably have to stop breathing first, and as much fun as it would be to try to kill him, I might as well throw myself on their knives to save them the trouble."

Eliot and Hardison huffed and looked up Parker expectantly, like she was going to help their cause. "Grab your stuff guys, we're heading out." Parker said, not realising the purpose of Eliot and Hardison's stare.

Anna picked up her bag and walked towards the busy road. Parker and the crew followed her, lagging behind slightly. "Girl, you're supposed to back us up!" Hardison said. He scowled slightly, but couldn't stay angry for long. There was something about Parker he couldn't quite put his finger on, something that made her different but in a good way.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Parker said; she never really understood the supposed subtext in conversation.

They walked for a bit, Eliot becoming more and more impatient with every step. "Is she always like this?" He asked Parker, referring to the obvious bounce in Anna's step and her little giggles.

Parker smiled, like she was proud of something. "Charming and hilarious?"

"I was going to say obnoxious and annoying, but that too." Eliot said. Sophie joined their conversation, having overheard Eliot's gruff reply.

"Oh, and you're not?" She asked Eliot, who scowled even more. "Anyway I'm not surprised she's acting obnoxious, we're the best in the world are what we do; meanwhile Anna's a very little fish in a very big pond. I'm surprised she hasn't collapsed in an over excited, terrified heap."

Eliot frowned as he tried to pinpoint why exactly Anna annoyed him so much. "Sophie, your job is to make people feel good about themselves and understand them, mine is to punch them in the face. There's a reason I see obnoxious and you see adorable and vulnerable."

Sophie smiled at Eliot's amusing analogy. She was about to reply when Nate cut in: "I'm going to have to side with Sophie on this one-"

Parker giggled, "You always side with Sophie." Sophie shoved her high heel into Parker's foot. Parker winced but carried on regardless. "Just saying!"

"Anyway," Nate said, trying to get the conversation back on track, "I do understand her, but the moment she screws up, I'm throwing her out the window." He said; quiet enough that Anna who practically skipping ahead of them wouldn't hear.

"Oooo! Me too!" Parker squealed, the group collectively gave her a 'What the hell?!' look, which seemed to happen a lot when Parker was around.

"You too what?" Eliot asked, before realising that knowing Parker he probably didn't want to know the answer.

"Throw me out the window!" Parker said. He was right; Eliot really didn't need to know that Parker wanted to be thrown out of the window. Again.

"There is something wrong with you, girl." Hardison said, shaking his head.

Anna turned around, beaming and clearly oblivious to their conversation, "Would you guys hurry up?" She said, sighing an 'overly dramatic teenager' sigh.

"Anybody else wishing that we weren't about to find out what would happen if we cloned Parker?" Hardison asked the group. Parker looked slightly confused at Hardison's remark, like most of their witty comments it went straight over her head or just took her too long to process.

Anna frowned at his comment. "Hey! I'm not Parker's clone! I have a life outside museums," She paused to think of a better reason, "and I have friends!" Everyone laughed internally or let out a little smile at Anna's remark. It was true, Parker seemed to have no friends except for the Leverage crew and the mysterious girl who'd made the comment.

Eliot didn't really care about the difference, however. "Whatever. You're both blonde thieves with an… interesting sense of humour, the only difference is Anna is British and she actually two names."

Anna shrugged. "Not really." Before Eliot could question her further, Anna's phone went off in her rucksack. Not surprisingly, her ring tone was quirky to say the least. It was a duck. Quacking. "Excuse me; this call's kind of vital to my existence." Anna walked off so she could take her call in private.

"What does she mean kind of? I don't care how old she is, I'm going to smash her head in-" Eliot said, his hands bunching into fists. Sophie put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Eliot. Calm. She's keeping her cards to her chest. That's allowed." Sophie whispered so Parker wouldn't hear her next remark. "Just remember Parker is her role model and work from there."

Eliot sighed, "Working from crazy, okay then." Eliot didn't want to think how crazy someone could be if their idea of normal was Parker.

Anna walked back towards them, significantly more agitated than she was when she had walked away. "I don't care if you hired me, I don't care if you can prove that you're the rightful king of England, you're not getting those files." Anna's authoritative tone got the crew's attention. "Oh, you want to play the threat game? I can play the threat game; hey I've got a good one: I'll let Hartwright know what you're doing and where you are." She paused, listening to the angered voice at the other end of her line. "I don't make empty threats. How do I know Hartwright? I've only worked for him for five years!" The voice on the other end of the line was much quieter. Anna's voice was considerably more sinister now. "Then we're sorted, you don't ever contact me again and I won't handicap the use of your legs."

Anna hung up the phone and looked at it with disgust. She dropped it on the floor, and proceeded to stamp the phone to shreds. Anna looked up at the crew, who admired her guts but didn't exactly approve of her disposal methods. "All ready." Anna realised she was still holding onto the files that had started the whole problem. "Oh, here's your files." She swung the backpack off her back and unzipped it. She pulled out two thick files and handed them to Nate, who happened to be the closest to her.

"Let's go." Nate said simply, desperate to get back to his apartment. He never liked standing out in the open like this for long without a well thought out and unbelievably convoluted backup plan.

"Finally." Anna said, oblivious to the fact that she was causing the hold-up. "Do you guys always take this long to make decisions?"

Parker smiled. "Only when Eliot is trying not to kill someone." Anna suddenly looked worried, as she assumed (correctly) that she was the person in question.

"Oops. Was not supposed to make the big guy angry." Anna said shielding herself from an expected onslaught. Nothing happened.

"The big guy?" Eliot said, chuckling to himself. At least she knew who to be scared of.

"Oh no, now he hates me!" Anna said. Eliot wasn't sure whether this was addressed to the whole group or to herself.

"You do know you're talking out loud, don't you?" Eliot asked her. She looked up, now back to her usual happy self.

"Yeah, duh." She said, as if it was the most obvious thing she'd ever heard. "Otherwise you wouldn't be replying."

"But you're thinking out loud?" Eliot wasn't sure if he could cope with two Parkers both equally irrational and unpredictable.

Parker butted in before Anna had time to explain herself, "I'd just go with it; you think I'm crazy? You should see what happens when she gets into con." None of the crew saw it as a positive thing that there was someone crazier than Parker.

Sophie tried to move the conversation along, "Nate shall we?" Nate nodded in agreement.

"Sounds like a plan." Nate and Sophie began walking more purposefully towards Lucille. Parker, Eliot and Hardison took the hint and followed them. Anna stood there awkwardly, waiting for instructions. "You coming, Anna?" Nate said over his shoulder. Anna beamed at them, even though they couldn't see.

"I thought you'd never ask." She paused before adding: "No, literally, I thought you weren't going to ask." Anna ran off to join Parker and the crew.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading, all opinions in the reviews would be super-duper appreciated as so far I have no idea if you like this or not :) please give me some idea... thanks again!**


	3. Anna, Concentrate

**A/N: Merry Christmas! (Nearly... only 12 and a half hours!) You lucky people have had three chapters in three days so be very happy with yourselves :D you can probably guess but since its Christmas I probably won't be posting until at least the 28th (I have loads of family to visit) and after that I'm supposed to be revising for GCSE mocks... (its a British exam, look it up) but I'd rather write this instead :D Please review with all your wonderful and diverse opinions :) Shout out to theshoegirl and patty cake rocks for your wonderful reviews THANK YOU!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Leverage crew or Nate's apartment or his TV... shame that.**

* * *

The crew walked into Nate's apartment lazily. The journey back had been something like trying to coax a little kid out of a sweet shop. Anna had wanted to use all of Hardison's gadgets and Parker had been more than willing to oblige. Only Eliot's death glare had kept Anna away from the computers.

Anna bounced in behind them; she had had a great trip. Not only had she had a chance to meet Parker's crew, her age gave her the excuse to prod and poke them until she found out exactly where the line in the sand was. "Hey Mr Muscle, do you have a name yet?" Anna asked, poking Eliot. Eliot turned around and frowned at her. As much as he didn't like her, he knew that she'd either ask Parker or just find it out for herself.

"Eliot."

"Surnames are optional, huh?" Anna said, smiling. Even though Eliot would rather he was left alone, Anna seemed to be the comic relief they needed right now. Everyone was in a mess. Nate had decided to start taking in coffee like it was oxygen, Sophie had been… off since they tried to steal the Davids (no surprises there, she was the one that caused that whole problem), Hardison hadn't stopped grumbling about the fact that he'd taken forever to set up Leverage Consulting & Associates and now it was all for nothing and Parker? Well she was… Parker.

"Maybe I'll tell you someday." Eliot replied. Anna was standing next to him like an overly loyal puppy. They were only just inside the apartment and Eliot noticed Anna was taking advantage of the viewpoint and scrutinising everyone.

"And the others?" She asked. The question didn't seem out of the blue; in fact it seemed perfectly reasonable, which was odd considering that that kind of question could make or break a crew. Their crew ran on the trust that they wouldn't sell each other out. Had Sophie overheard the comment, she would have been proud and slightly nervous; it took some serious self-confidence to slip possibly dangerous and game-changing questions like that into conversation.

"Nate and Hardison." Eliot said. He gestured to Nate who was sat on a stool in his kitchen, unsurprisingly drinking from a huge mug of coffee and to Hardison who was already plugged back into his laptop, probably playing World of Warcraft or something equally ridiculous. "Nate runs the show and Hardison does computer… stuff." It occurred to Eliot that he had never really understood what it was that Hardison did, only that it unlocked doors for him.

"Cool." Anna replied, even though it was clear to Eliot that she was not particularly listening. She was back to staring intently, at Nate in particular. She seemed intrigued by him, for what reason was unknown, but Eliot was sure he or Parker would be interrogated about it later.

Anna stared at Nate, something about him was familiar. She hadn't met him before, she would have remembered him if she had. No, he reminded her of someone else, someone she either couldn't or didn't want to remember. Eliot interrupted her train of thought, "It's strange-"

"Huh?" Anna looked back at Eliot, suddenly aware that she was still participating in a conversation.

"Parker never even mentioned you. Not even once." Eliot said more to himself than to Anna but he still got a response anyway.

"I suppose she doesn't want to risk me getting hurt, and she'd have to explain that she owes me for saving her butt." Anna said quietly. Eliot looked at her and he smiled. Hardison leaned over, suddenly interested in their conversation.

He laughed, "Whoa, hold up. You saved Parker's butt? When?" He walked over towards them, which alerted Parker to their conversation.

"My butt was in no risk and did not need saving!" Anna laughed at Parker's reply, Parker realised that her sudden defence was not helping her case.

"Of course it didn't, it's not like being able to speak fluent French helped when the French copper nailed us for trying to abseil down the Louvre pyramid!" Sophie also joined their conversation, not believing what she just heard.

"Did you say the Louvre?!" Sophie asked; Anna simply smiled. "You abseiled down the Louvre pyramid? Like the big glass pyramid that people walk through and- That's crazy!"

"It was Parker's birthday present for me." Anna's reply did nothing to calm Sophie who was still shocked that even Parker could get away with that. "Anyway, I managed to convince him that we were just tourists and the guy who gave us the equipment said it was legal!"

Sophie didn't really follow Anna's logic; surely speaking fluent French made it more obvious that she wasn't a tourist? "How does speaking fluent French help convince a French cop you're a tourist?"

Anna smiled knowingly, "You have to know a language to know exactly where to slip up to convince the natives that you're a stupid tourist whilst still getting the message across, unlike Parker who's just a stupid tourist." Anna's sarcastic remark gained her another punch in the arm from Parker, but Anna smiled regardless.

Nate butted in before Parker and Anna started an inevitable argument. "Anna, Parker, concentrate. Now, we just started a new con. We were planning on the New York shuffle, but-"

Sophie interrupted, "They're not stupid Nate; they'll smell it coming." Nate rolled his eyes, they'd had this conversation earlier and Sophie was still persisting.

"Exactly. However, I think we could pull off the Belgian Tango." Hardison, Eliot and Sophie looked at him like he was mental.

Sophie was the first to voice her opinion, "Belgian Tango?! Are you out of your mind? That needs months are planning! No, Nate we can't just-"

"So, we speed up the music." Sophie sighed in frustration at Nate's simple reply. Yes, things had a habit of just going his way, but she'd rather he actually had a backup plan to fall back on. Trust falls weren't really her thing.

Anna cut the tension between Nate and Sophie, who yet again were on the brink of an argument. "I like you, Nate. You remind me of Mr Lucas."

Nate looked at her suspiciously. He assumed that his name had either come from Parker or Eliot; however Parker seemed oblivious to the conversation and was beginning to float around the apartment and look for locks to break, so it was probably Eliot.

"Is that a compliment?" He asked, warily. He had no idea who this 'Mr Lucas' person was, but he was slightly worried about the analogy.

"He was a complete gentleman, butler at my foster parent's house. Such a darling, we had the whole _Parent Trap_ thing going on-" Anna smiled, looking vaguely into the 'middle distance' and smiling. She was clearly reminiscing about her past and no one had the heart to interrupt. Except Sophie.

"And you stole his wallet or keys every time you did the handshake?" Sophie questioned her. Anna looked sheepish but was still grinning.

"Yeah." She paused. Everyone realised there was more to this little girl than they'd thought. Maybe she was just a conniving thief. "But I gave it back; I mean he was the one who taught me to crack a safe. Parker, in a moment of strange and previously unheard of rationality, thought that teaching a five-year-old how to crack a safe was distasteful."

Everyone smiled to themselves at the idea that Parker could have possibly made a judgement call that sensible and…grownup. Eliot however, was still pondering on Sophie's comment. "I'm sorry, handshake? What handshake?"

Hardison looked at Eliot with mild disgust, not to say that that was uncommon in itself. "Now that is sad. Have you ever seen _Parent Trap_?" Eliot shook his head, clearly not understanding what was so important about some stupid film. "The Lindsey Lohan film? The British girl, she has the handshake with the butler and-" Hardison noticed Eliot's completely clueless face and sighed to himself. "Oh man, this is too sad."

Eliot was about to remind Hardison that he hadn't spend his entire life in front of a computer screen and therefore hadn't seen every movie under the sun when Anna spoke instead. "Oh shut up, Hardison, it's just a movie." Everyone was perplexed by Anna's response. Especially Hardison.

"Hey, I'm backing your case! Don't have a go at me!" Hardison exclaimed. The little (well, not so little) girl standing in front of them seemed to be getting more and more confusing.

"I don't have a case, and even if I did it would not need backing." Anna replied, crossing her arms and staring at Hardison as menacingly as she could. Anna remembered something and began to shift on her feet uneasily. She had something to ask, but it was a risk and she didn't want to ruin the small amount of trust she had managed to gain.

"Um, Eliot?" Eliot looked at her whilst the rest of the group looked at Eliot and then back at Anna when she didn't finish her sentence and then back at Eliot. "Could you come and pick up my stuff with me at some point? It's just, my boss, he's a bit angry with me at the moment and he's probably left a few tough guys at my temporary apartment and I thought maybe you could-"

Eliot smiled and frowned at the same time. It was nice that she trusted him, yet odd since he didn't trust her and he hadn't exactly been polite. "You trust me enough to let me have your back after knowing you for an hour, most of which was me trying not to kick your obnoxious ass?"

Anna nodded; she didn't see what the problem was. "Uh-huh. Nate let both of us into his house, so he trusts us. I trust him because he reminds me of my butler, and he just seems trustable; which is silly because he cons people for a living but-" Anna realised that she was rambling and digging herself into a hole, fast. "Look, Parker trusts you. You've got to be one hell of a backup plan if Little Miss Do-Everything-My-Way lets you handle anything."

"I heard that!" Parker said from the other side of the room.

"You were meant to!" Anna replied, which caused Hardison and Eliot to smile. The girl had guts if nothing else.

"I could get used to your obnoxious ass." Eliot said with a smile. Nate returned to his chair by the TV and slumped into his seat.

"Hardison, can you run it?" He asked, frowning slightly. Anna wondered why Nate was so grumpy; from the few anecdotes she'd had from Parker in the mail he seemed like the kind of guy to enjoy new and random changes. What had Parker called it? A gambit?

Hardison wasn't exactly paying attention to the situation. In fact he was paying much more attention to Parker and Anna's room-spanning-death-glaring contest. "Run what?"

Nate sighed angrily. Why could none of his crew (except Sophie) ever hold their focus for more than five minutes? "The mark, Hardison. The presentation on the mark." Nate reminded Hardison.

"Right," Hardison scrambled to grab his remote/tablet thing off the table and walked towards the huge TV that dominated the room. Everyone took their place: Parker, Sophie and Eliot sat on the long sofa, Hardison walked around the back of the sofa and leaned on it and Nate stayed put.

"Am I involved in this?" Anna asked, feeling out of place. Everyone in the room knew what was going on and understood their place but Anna just felt alone. Not that she was new to it, it was just for a moment she'd felt wanted and it had made her want to sing, and now… well, now she felt-

Nate looked unsure and was about to banish her or something equally inhumane. When Nate looked over at his crew for backup he was met with serious puppy-dog eyes from Parker, a 'Think about what you're about to say' look from Eliot, a 'Do you want to break the girl's heart?' look from Sophie and Hardison looked kind of indifferent but if pressed would get just as into it as Parker or Eliot. "Sure. My highly secret plans for how to con our mark are a free-for-all, anyone can sit it." He said sarcastically.

"Nate." Sophie said in a tone he'd heard a thousand times. It was her 'Think about this for a second' or 'Go easy on her/him/it/them' voice. "She's a certified thief. I doubt she's going to spread the word."

He sighed again. Anna noticed that Nate communicated more meaning in his sighs than in his words. So he was a complete con man, even when he wasn't conning anyone. "This," Hardison started, trying to steer the conversation back to where it was supposed to be, "is Mr Danver."

Anna squinted again. She recognised him. From a long long time ago. Practically another life. If she recognised him at all. Her mind played tricks on her sometimes, her paranoia got to her and she freaked out. Instead of alerting the crew to her paranoid delusions, she sat down on the only remaining chair and tried to concentrate.

"He's the CEO of Danver Incorporated, a legal company that specialises in will-writing. He also has a little side business of legend hunting." Anna was confused, legend hunting? Clearly she was supposed to know what that meant. She put her hand up like a school kid. "Question from the kid to my right."

"What's legend hunting?" Anna asked, as innocently as she could without overdoing it.

"Good question. He spends his free time convincing dying people all over the world to sign their whole fortunes to a range of aliases and fake businesses." Nice guy then, Anna thought to herself. Is this what Parker meant by the bad guys making the best good guys? They helped people who couldn't help themselves? "He generally picks rich people with terminal illnesses, who don't have enough surrounding family to keep them on the straight and narrow, which means that at the moment he has over $10 million dollars to his name, and that's just what's in the banks." Anna winced at Hardison's briefing. All that money in a bank? What a waste. And there was the matter of him being a sick bastard, but $10 million? That was more money than Anna had ever seen (except for that one time in Italy).

"That's horrible." She said. The true depth of what Hardison had said finally jostled its way past the huge dollar signs in Anna's brain. He took money from people who were dying. People who had saved up. People who had worked hard all their lives. He took that. 'Horrible' didn't quite cover it.

"I know! My Nana would be disgusted!" said Hardison, clearly rallied by the new enthusiasm within the group. The crew were starting to suffer from what Nate had jokingly called 'Asshole Fatigue': they'd seen so many horrible guys over the last year that they weren't so shocked by it anymore.

Nate smiled, "So who wants to be a millionaire? …With a terminal illness."

* * *

**A/N: Hiya! Just a quick note as I noticed something on TV Tropes whilst I was 'doing homework'... in America you don't say abseil you say rappel... sorry about that :) just to clear things up, Anna and Parker attached ropes to the top of the pyramid outside the Louvre in Paris and jumped down in harnesses :) please tell me if you don't understand my British-isms or if I ruin your American-isms... thanks for reading! Have a good Christmas and I shall write soon (I'll try and get another chapter up today) !**


	4. That Would Be Telling, Wouldn't It?

**A/N: Two chapters in one day? It must be nearly Christmas :) Hopefully you understand it all and it makes sense, if not tell me! Hearing people's opinions makes me happy (think Parker when it snows) :) **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Leverage crew or Lucille or any of Sophie's incredible wardrobe or Parker's hot chocolate...**

* * *

Parker walked awkwardly down the pavement. Danver Incorporated loomed over them; so what if it had a nice park next to it and it was in a nice neighbourhood? Didn't stop the building alone from scaring people. Or maybe that was to do with the owner. It hadn't been long since she'd met up with Anna here earlier that morning. Except this time Anna was by her side reassuring her that her hair looked fine. Honestly. "You sure I look okay?"

"Yes, Park. You look fine." Anna giggled to herself, Parker had never been one to care about looks and even though she knew Parker was worried about if she looked right for the mark, it still made Anna laugh that Parker cared so much.

"Do I have to wear this?" Parker said, pulling at her dress uncomfortably. The dress was one of Sophie's 'Richer Than Thou' dresses, the stupid shoes were Sophie's as well and Parker's hair had taken Anna half an hour to get just right.

"Yeah, well according to Nate." Nate had set the whole plan up; Parker was going to be the dying one. They didn't have any old people so they picked Parker instead. So, Parker was a filthy rich dying person with no family. Anna didn't see this as particularly fair, as at the moment she was basically a tea boy or an odd-job. Great.

"Well, he is the man with the plan." Parker replied.

"Something like that." Anna still hadn't placed who Nate reminded her of and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"Cocoa?" Parker offered. Anna smiled at the idea. She hadn't eaten properly in the past week.

"Sure, but only if they put chocolate sauce and toffee sauce and mini marshmallows on it." Anna said. Parker rolled her eyes, something she'd picked up off of Eliot.

"You really have got more demanding." Parker teased, she knew that Anna was constantly worrying if she was becoming bratty so any hint at it made her grump or freak out. Or both.

"You haven't seen me since my 13th. That's two years Park." Anna said, trying to defend herself. Parker just laughed.

They stood up and meandered towards the coffee stand. Anna had never understood why Americans wanted to get their coffee outside, surely sitting inside a warm Starbucks was better? "Two hot cocoas please." She also didn't understand what was wrong with calling it hot chocolate.

"Yes, miss. Sauces?" Parker was about to recite Anna's order but her memory for 'less important things' such as _food _and _friends _was less than great so Anna decided to step in. And the guy on the coffee stand's smile for Parker was a bit disconcerting.

"Chocolate and toffee sauce with marshmallows please." Anna said in a cute little voice, smiling. Nate was listening in Lucille and was slightly worried how easily she could turn on the charming little girl act.

"And what does the lovely lady want?" The guy grimaced at Parker again. Anna decided that it was better to stay out of it, Parker was oblivious to what was happening, like usual, so no harm could come from it.

"Um, well, just marshmallows I guess." Parker said in a daze.

"And just for you, my personal favourite 'special sauce'." The guy said with what Anna assumed was supposed to be a dashing smile. More like a Slasher Smile. She reminded herself to always make her own hot chocolate from now on.

Parker frowned slightly. "What's in it?"

"That would be telling, wouldn't it?" The guy said with a wink. He squeezed something into the hot chocolate before adding marshmallows and passing it over with Anna's hot chocolate.

Parker squirmed. "Well, I-"

"That's great; have a twenty keep the change." Anna said, pulling a twenty dollar bill from her jeans pocket and throwing it in his direction. She grabbed the hot chocolates and walked off to the nearest bench.

Parker sat down and Anna sat next to her. Anna took a huge gulp of her hot chocolate and sighed happily, she had missed proper hot drinks. "Man this stuff is good. I have been living on pot noodles all week!"

Parker took a long gulp of her drink sighed to herself. Parker was still a bit uneasy for some reason. Her throat was tight and her stomach was churning. She coughed slightly. "Pot noodles?" She asked. Anna nodded.

"Yeah, my temporary apartment didn't have a fridge or an oven; crazy, right? So I had to do microwavable meals. So, pot noodles. The nearest food place to me was some bar and I don't think they'd let me in on my own and anyway I don't think they serve anything except nachos and chips and crisps, I mean nachos and fries and chips." Eight years in England had confused Anna as to which phrases belonged to which side of the Atlantic; her accent was easily changed and she constantly slipped up in references and nuances from both sides of the pond.

"Depends on the bar, where were you?" Parker asked. She coughed again. Why was the world so inconvenient? Why did she always get a cough when she needed to talk to people?

"I was a couple of streets down from this place called, um, Mc- McSomething." Anna's eyebrows knitted themselves together as she tried to think of the name.

"Helpful." Parker said. Clearly she'd been picking up on Eliot's speech patterns. Parker was never this sarcastic before the Leverage crew, well, Anna didn't think so.

"Anyway, that guy at the coffee stand couldn't take his eyes off of you! How come you didn't do your normal?" Anna asked, taking another long gulp of hot chocolate. Or cocoa. Or whatever she called it.

"I have a normal?" Parker looked confused; yet again Anna was speaking complete gibberish to her.

"You know, flirt with them and wind them up and then ignore them, all whilst being completely oblivious?" Anna teased, poking Parker's arm.

"Do I do that?" Parker asked. Anna nodded and Parker shrugged and took another long gulp. She coughed and spluttered.

"Whoa, Park, you okay?" Anna grabbed Parker's shoulder and turned Parker so that they were facing each other. Parker nodded and smiled. But she coughed again. "Park, we could do this later if you want 'cause you don't look so great." Anna knew that was an understatement, Parker had gone all pale, her eyes had stopped twinkling and she looked like someone had punched her in the stomach. Hard. Parker stopped trying to conceal her coughs and let rip a huge coughing fit. "Parker?"

Parker doubled over as her coughs got quieter and quieter. 'Maybe she's stopping?' Anna thought. Fat chance. Fate had it out for her and Parker, she'd decided. Eventually Parker's cough stopped altogether. Crisis averted.

* * *

Nate had switched off the feed from Parker's ear bud. He'd 'left the girls to their girl talk' as Eliot had put it, though knowing what little he knew about the girls in question, their idea of girl talk wasn't exactly standard. Sophie was rambling; she was trying to fill the time and trying to fill Nate in on the little she'd heard about Anna. Despite the fact that she was half the age of most of the people that called The Corner home, Anna had taken the place by storm. She'd first been recruited (yes, you did have to be recruited) when she'd successfully interrupted Hartwright's huge 'take everything' heist from five years ago. As a ten year old girl, she managed to get in the way so much they had to hire her. She'd started off basically just pick-pocketing and-

Hardison was bored. Sure, Sophie's stories were interesting enough but something seemed off; Parker's feed was weird. The visual output was all over the place, like something noisy was happening nearby. He turned it on, just to reassure himself that the girls were fine. "PARKER!" A voice nearby to Parker screamed. A very familiar voice. Anna's. "No, Parker. No. Don't you dare think about- Parker?" Anna's voice was growing fainter and fainter. Not that anyone was around to hear anything after Anna's first scream as Eliot had slammed Lucille's door open and was running towards the coffee cart, closely followed by Hardison, Nate and Sophie.

* * *

Anna's head was reeling. Somehow, Eliot, Hardison, Nate and Sophie had just appeared from round the corner and they all looked terrified. Anna being bent on an unconscious Parker lying on the ground didn't help.

She wasn't sure if she was being talked to or if it was just her own voice echoing through her head. Parker's hot chocolate was spilt on the ground and- the hot chocolate! "Where is he? Where is he? Where did he go?"

"Where's who Anna?" Someone asked. They all looked like they wanted to break someone's neck, even Sophie. And she was a self-declared pacifist (whacking people with handbags didn't count).

"The guy from the coffee stand! He- God, I'm such an idiot!" She shouted in frustration. She couldn't, wouldn't look at Parker on the ground. Eliot had decided to play medic but Anna could tell he was reluctant to call 911.

"Anna, what happened?" That was a brilliant question, Anna realised. She had no idea what had happened. "Anna?" She should have been watching, paying attention. Trouble followed Anna around waiting to strike and Parker was a trouble-magnet all on her own. Clearly Fate was drunk or when it thought that Anna and Parker would make a good pair. "Anna?"

"Oh, sorry." Anna tried to smile. No matter how good an actress she was, Sophie would always see straight through it. It didn't help that Anna felt like crying and screaming and… garrotting instead of smiling. "The guy from the coffee stand, he gave Parker some 'special sauce' and I thought he just fancied her and- I'm so stupid, Sophie! He poisoned her and I didn't notice!" And then Anna did something she hadn't done in years… she hugged someone. Well, rather she was hugged by Sophie, who'd gone all maternal all of a sudden.

"Ssh, it's not your fault Anna. You're not supposed to protect her-" Sophie tried to comfort Anna, but it was in vain as she was set off on another ramble.

"I am! That's what I do! We fit! I'm sane enough to keep her from losing it and she's crazy enough to make everything work. Without her I wouldn't be here, I wouldn't be a thief and I probably wouldn't be alive! So don't tell I'm not 'supposed' to do anything!" Anna was shouting at Sophie now, letting everything go. Gone was the precocious girl with the gutsy sarcasm. Instead there was a girl who managed to lose everything that mattered in a matter of seconds. And she blamed herself.

"And, I- I don't- I don't want- I don't want her to go. Sophie, I need her." Anna looked desperate. Terrified. Alone.

* * *

**A/N: Hello again! How was that? Good? Bad? Perfect? Crap? Please tell me :D I'd love to hear anything you have to say from your opinions to what you think's going to happen next to who Anna sees in Nate or if you approve of Anna's taste in hot chocolate or anything... Also, did I get the hot chocolate/cocoa thing right?**

**P.S. 'Garrotting' is a London term for strangling... did you know that posh Victorian Londoners used to wear leather rings around their neck (a bit like a dog's collar) to prevent them from being garrotted? You learn something new everyday... and if you knew that already Well Done You! TTFN! (Ta-ta for now!)**


	5. I'm So Sorry

**A/N: Hiya! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and you have a super duper New Year! I hope you enjoy the chapter, send me some reviews! Anything you want to say would be lovely! Enjoy!**

* * *

Sophie wasn't happy. She didn't like hospitals; maybe she'd spent so much time with Nate that it had rubbed off on her. She didn't like the amount of cameras or the flimsy aliases Hardison had cooked up on the way or the way Parker looked completely dead or the fact that no one else seemed to be worried at all.

Nate was fuming. One of his team was comatose; the rest of it was in pieces over that. And in the centre of it all was Anna. The charming little girl with a side helping of gutsy attitude. However much he hated her, he didn't want to stress Parker in any way at all when she woke up and removing Anna from the situation would stress Parker out no end. "Nate-" She began warily.

"She's fine, Sophie." He was tired, they'd been standing perfectly silent for over an hour. Who knows how many people had signed away their fortunes to their mark in that time?

"I know that, Nate. But did you hear what Anna said?" Sophie waited for a reply. Nate grunted. He was pretty sure he was about to hear another one of Sophie's deep over-thought analyses. "She said Parker saved her life which is probably how they met, she wouldn't be a thief, so she's been important to her for a decent amount of time, and they've known each other for practically forever and they both have blonde hair and bright blue eyes and they-"

"Yes and?" Nate wanted to leave. Right then would have been preferable.

"So maybe she's Parker's… you know." Sophie looked through the window, she was pretty sure Anna was aware she was being watched. Not that she cared, now that her friend's life was hanging in the balance.

"No. I don't." Nate could usually predict where Sophie was headed in a conversation but this time, he was flummoxed.

"Family?" Sophie suggested. Nate rolled his eyes, he was going to sigh again but he thought he'd mix it up a bit.

"You should probably do that thing you do where-" Nate began. Now it was Sophie's turn to roll her eyes.

"Where I make people tell me their life stories for no discernible reason? Nate, I can't do that to her. She's too shaken up and she's probably expecting it and she's extended family... I couldn't." Sophie explained. She watched as Anna read her book to Parker, she was reading it quietly but Sophie was pretty sure it was The Book Thief. Good taste. Ironic for their profession but still good taste.

"That matters?" Nate asked. He didn't see the problem, to be honest.

"Yes Nate it matters! Have I taught you nothing about morals?" Sophie asked, clearly annoyed that Nate still saw her as a common criminal. Well, partly at least.

"This coming from a certified thief? Yeah, I don't take morality lessons from you, Sophie."

* * *

"I am haunted by humans." Anna read the last sentence of the book. She closed the book and sighed. It had been too long, hadn't it? What were the chances of her waking up now? Less than ten minutes ago, less than when she got in. She shifted on the bed, she'd sat on the end of it so as not to squash her but she did feel like she was going to fall off every five seconds.

The movies had one thing right; comatose friends made you do weird things. For example, she'd never been compelled to read a book out loud to anyone before about two hours and four minutes and thirty-six seconds ago. "Parker, I- I don't know if you can hear me but-" She started, her voice catching in her throat.

What the hell was Anna planning to say? Parker couldn't hear her, it was for her own benefit yet she still didn't want to say anything. Admit anything.

"Well, but- look what I'm trying to say is that, Parker I, I- I'm so sorry Parker." Anna wasn't sure what she was planning on saying, but like most of her cons, better things happen when the plans are left at home. "I know I don't really have anything to apologise for as such but I'm sure we'll think of something. We always do, right?" Anna almost expected Parker to open her eyes and reply. No such luck. "Please don't go, Parker. I don't want to be on my own again. I really should say thank you. I guess I learnt my manners off you, huh? I don't think I can say it enough."

Now for that thing that Anna hated. Confessions. "I still don't remember meeting you, how you sort of saved me from impending doom. I guess it's my turn now, huh?" Anna giggled slightly. It was met by silence. Anna was frustrated. Why wouldn't Parker wake up?!

"Dammit Parker! Say something! Laugh, cry, scream at me for being a horrible human being, I don't care! Just do something!" Anna's voice was rising by the minute.

Nate turned to ask Sophie to go be Team Mom but she'd already gone. "It's going to be just fine Anna." Sophie said as she walked in. Anna looked up at her, tears threatening to make an appearance.

"You think so?" Anna asked. Her heightened British accent showing through even more than usual.

"I know so." Sophie said. "Parker jumps off buildings for a living; I doubt falling off a bench is going to rattle her that much." Anna smiled slightly at the joke. "Don't like my joke?" Sophie asked.

"No, but- I find it hard to be happy when I'm not. I can do every emotion under the sun on command, except the simplest: happiness. How stupid's that? It's hard to fake, you have to feel it. It's in your eyes, not just your face, you know?" Anna was pretty sure she wasn't making any sense at all but Sophie nodded and sat in the chair next to Parker's bed.

"Don't beat yourself up, Anna. I was barely thinking about grifting when I was your age, and here you are: the talk of The Corner! You're going to be great someday." Sophie said reassuringly. Generally Sophie thought of herself as the best of the best, but Anna had been grifting for years and she was still a teenager. She could probably be great without the practice; with it she could be unstoppable.

"I don't want to be great. I want to be good." Anna said definitively. It made Sophie proud; Anna had the potential to be a threat to everyone from the man at the corner store to national governments. But she wanted to be good instead.

"Could I ask you a question?" Sophie asked. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to." Anna nodded. That was never a good start in her opinion. "You two," Sophie gestured to Anna and Parker "you're not related are you?"

"Us? No." Somewhere, Sophie was sure of it, Nate was gloating that he'd been right. "But when we used to run together, we'd play it like that for the sympathy. Weird coincidence isn't it? Us looking so alike?"

"Yeah." Sophie was distracted. Was it a hit? On Parker? Or her alias?

"Thank you." Anna said quietly.

"For what?" Sophie asked; she knew it was judgemental but she hadn't pegged Anna as the grateful type.

"Being there. You don't know me, but you care. It makes me feel wanted. You remind me of home." Anna was strangely wistful and it made Sophie almost let her guard drop. Almost. "You have a wonderful accent there."

"Your compliment is duly noted and I am so very grateful, Miss Parker. Your accent is most exquisite too, might I add." Sophie said, sitting up straighter and over-emphasising her accent. Anna giggled at Sophie's fairly lame attempt to make her laugh.

Nate watched on from behind the glass, he grinned to himself. Not only was he right about Anna and Parker not being related, but Parker's read-outs were stable, Sophie seemed slightly more 'with it' after the emotional talk, Little Miss Anna seemed perfectly trustable and Nate was sure he could salvage his con.

* * *

**A/N: Did you like it? If so, tell me! If not, definitely tell me! I'd love love love to hear any theories you have on what's going to happen or on characters and stuff :D I promise they will actually start their con soon... its just Anna's creating all sorts of problems! **


	6. Girl's Got a Point

**A/N: Hiya! (That's becoming a bad habit of mine...) Happy New Year! Sorry it's been like foorreeevvveerrr since I posted (well not that long but you get the point). Here's a chapter and an extra bit that was supposed to be part of the next chapter but I'm giving it to you now! Aren't you lucky?! Well, here goes... Enjoy! (More bad habits...)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Leverage crew. Not even Eliot's sarcasm or Sophie's plaiting skills (or braiding skills if you're American).**

* * *

"I don't like this, Nate." Eliot said. They were back at his apartment, trying to salvage their con and everyone was stressed. Anna hadn't said a thing; she hadn't moved. She was standing by the window, staring out at the bleak weather and eating cereal. It was kind of creepy, to be honest. That's what Parker used to do when she was upset or she didn't understand something.

"None of us like it, Eliot. But we can't stay there and wait. Everyone moment we wait, our client loses hope and our mark takes more money." Eliot sighed, he wasn't angry as such. He knew Nate was right, he just wanted him to be wrong. So Eliot could argue, so he could shout and smash something.

"Because we're being so productive here aren't we?" Hardison snarked. "Look, come on guys. We're not doing anything here except freaking out. We either do something or I'm taking Anna back to Parker's hospital room."

"We're thinking Hardison, it's just taking some time-" Nate began. So, things weren't going to plan, but when did they ever?

"Well think faster!" Something inside Hardison snapped. "Parker's in hospital! The last time that happened was our first con together. That was over a year ago! Nate, she's dying and you're not doing anything to solve that!" No one spoke for a few minutes. Hardison only ever snapped at Eliot, and that was more like sibling rivalry than anything else and never a full rant.

"You know, I don't see why you're all so stressed out." Anna said. Her voice was strangely calm for someone so beaten up. "The mark didn't even see Parker. So there's nothing to salvage, we just start from scratch."

"Girl's got a point." Sophie said. She was sitting on a chair in Nate's kitchen, basically sulking. She had said she was 'thinking' but Nate was pretty sure she was having a good old sulk about her con being pulled to shreds before it even got started.

Hardison was tapping on the screen in front of him; so maybe he monitoring the video feed for Parker's room and watching for the moment she woke up. But he was being more productive than everyone else, right? "You got anything, Hardison?" Anna asked, still facing the window. Her breath fogged up the glass when she spoke and Anna absent-mindedly drew swirls in the condensation with the handle of the spoon.

"On what?" Hardison asked. Although, it was a silly question as there was only one actually looking at, 'Alice White' unconscious in a hospital bed.

"On Parker. Or whatever she's called in that hospital." Anna said, still munching on her cereal and not facing anyone. How she knew what Hardison was looking at was completely unknown.

"No change. She's completely out." Hardison said. Anna huffed, she was about to go into full teenager strop mode. "Wait…" Anna turned round, excited. "No. False alarm."

"Hardison!" Anna said; she was trying to sound annoyed, because she actually was, but she'd spent too long acting up the whiny brat so she sounded like, well, a whiny brat.

Everyone laughed slightly at Anna's outburst, and Anna was fuming. Why did she always mess up in front of people? Why couldn't she get anything right? Nate smiled to himself; he'd been waiting for an epiphany. Turns out it had been standing by the window the whole time. "Anna?"

"What?" she snapped, her cheeks glowing red with embarrassment and anger.

"How good are you at, say, whiny bratty teenager?" Nate asked, Anna's cheeks stopped flaring and she smiled a wicked smile that would have been terrifying if they hadn't witnessed the strop she'd just had.

Something switched in Anna's head and suddenly she wasn't Anna, 15-year-old British thief anymore; she was Anna, 15-year-old insufferable American brat. "Well, I don't see what the problem is! I'm not having any fun, why should anyone else? Mom! God, my mom is such an idiot. She knows like, practically, nothing about anything useful! I mean what's her PhD even in? Science?! Everyone knows brains get you nowhere." Anna said, in a stereotyped West Coast American twang. Nate nodded, Sophie smiled, Hardison was trying to suppress the giggles, and Eliot looked well, scared. He thought Anna was bad how she was, turns out she was only mildly annoying compared to her American counterpart.

"Maybe we don't need Parker." Nate said which earned death glares from pretty much everyone. "Whoa, temporarily, guys. We need her back, we're just going to have a replacement. A temporary replacement. No offence, Anna." Nate took a huge gulp of the coffee he was carrying and finished it off. He put it down on the counter near Sophie and gave her a knowing look.

"None taken." She smiled, back to her happy British self.

"That's slightly terrifying, Anna." Hardison commented.

"I know right?!" She said excitedly, she was perfectly aware of how disconcerting it was that she could turn on characters like a light switch, (well with a bit of inspiration from Nate at least).

"We could easily fit that into our-" Nate began. Anna suddenly felt very sorry for Nate, if Sophie's death glare was anything to go by.

"Nate. Outside. Now." Sophie said. Anna wasn't really sure what was going on, but Eliot and Hardison looked slightly terrified. Clearly this was Bad News. Sophie stormed out into the hallway outside of the apartment, closely followed by Nate. "Nate!" She started, just as the door shut.

* * *

"What are you doing?" She demanded.

"Making the best of a bad situation." Nate said; that was what he did all the time. Even before his whole plan inevitably went completely to pot.

"With the help of a kid? Isn't that a bit young, Nate?" Sophie asked. Anna didn't really need any more exposure to horrible people, The Corner was enough.

"You were the one that sang her praises for three hours straight yesterday!" Nate retorted; his voice louder than Sophie was expecting. They both knew where this was heading.

"I wasn't expecting you to involve her in the con!"

"We need her!"

"No, we don't!"

"So, I'm selfish? I'm doing this for the grieving daughter who plucked up the courage to talk to me! How I do it doesn't matter!" Nate shouted.

"Emotional blackmail. Nice Nate." Sophie said, spitting her words out.

"No, Sophie." Sophie ignored him and turned to go back inside. Nate grabbed her arm and spun her around. "Look, she might be a teenager, but she's the only option we've got. This needs two grifters; the 'whiny brat' bit just sells the con even more. Trust me, Sophie. Just one more time?"

"Fine, Nate." Sophie knew it wouldn't be 'just one more time'; it would be almost every con for the entirety of the foreseeable future.

"Shall we head back in?" Nate asked, knowing everything he said, no matter how inconsequential, would be analysed beyond belief before Sophie even considered letting him off.

* * *

Anna looked over at Eliot and Hardison. "I guess that's not a good sign."

"No. The last time one of them pulled the other out for a 'chat'… well, we all ended up two minutes from being arrested for a list of felonies longer than your arm." Eliot recounted a very condensed version of the issues surrounding trying to steal the Davids. That time, it had been Nate that pulled Sophie out of the room.

"So, what do we do now?" Anna asked; she was itching to do something. If someone didn't give her something to do, she'd just end up nicking everyone's wallets and she quite liked having people who trusted her past just 'getting the job done', so that wasn't an option.

"We wait." Eliot said. The noise coming from behind the door got louder. "Apparently you're kicking up all sorts of problems." Eliot said to Anna, who frowned.

"Me?" Anna had been on her best behaviour since Parker's phone call asking her for the files early that morning, but now 'apparently' she was ruining everything.

"Well not you specifically but just you being here." Eliot explained. Anna didn't feel particularly comforted by his words. "Look, it's not your fault, but you've caused the problem. Does that make sense?" It made a lot of sense to Anna. She'd heard it hundreds of times, she got in the way of her foster parents' lives and that was always their reason. But Anna knew that it wasn't a reason it was an excuse; she knew that if they loved her enough they'd sort it. They never did sort it. But Anna had come to realise that people didn't love her, they took pity on her. 'Oh, look at that poor little kid with blonde hair, big blue eyes and no home, we simply have to look after her.' It's just, more often than not, their pity ran out and they got impatient. No one wants a broken kid with a troubled past, they want a perfect girl, with curly blonde hair who giggles and bakes cupcakes and wants to be a princess and fall in love with Prince Charming. At least Anna looked the part.

"Yeah." One word was all Anna could manage. She felt crushed. She was about to tell Nate not to bother, she had a flight with her (alias') name on it this evening, she'd catch it and fly back to Britain and forget that she had ever met them. It was probably better that way.

"Sorry about that, folks." Nate opened the door, both him and Sophie looked less angry than they had been when they'd left. Sophie smiled apologetically at Anna. Anna nodded back; she understood that Sophie was just trying to protect her. "We're up and running once more. Anna you're going to take the wonderful role of bratty little daughter who can't keep her mouth shut, who also wants to take all her mom's money when she dies. Now-"

And so Anna listened patiently as Nate divulged all of the wonderful intricacies of how to be a horrible brat (along with a few major details about the con they were running). Anna felt happy, like someone had just given her the best Christmas present the world had ever seen… and it wasn't even Christmas yet.

* * *

Hardison was stood in the middle of Nate's apartment and he was sulking. He was uncomfortable, too hot, tired, stressed and generally not happy. Whoever came up with the dumb idea that posh chauffeurs should wear tuxedos? Someone who had clearly never sat down in one for long. Anna was kneeling on a bar stool, fixing his bow tie. Apparently, Danver would know if it was one of those pre-tied ones from a fifteen stories up through a tiny car window. Right. And 'anyhow', chauffeurs always tied their own bow ties. "Chauffeur? Really, man?" He asked, again.

"Chauffeurs are awesome, Hardison. They wear bow ties. Bow ties are cool." Hardison smiled at Anna's reference and adjusted the bow tie. It was annoying but cool. He could live with that.

"Bow ties make you dapper." Sophie said from a Nate's kitchen. She was being treated to Nate and Eliot's cooking. Although Nate was no Eliot when it came to cooking, he cooked a mean breakfast. "Think James Bond, Hardison." Hardison's grin got wider.

"I could do James Bond. Yeah." Hardison switched to an iffy British accent. Well, iffy to Anna and Sophie but 'positively spiffing' to Eliot and Nate who weren't such experts. "Shaken not stirred."

"Lovely," Anna said, the heightened British accent she was putting on far exceeding Hardison's, "but more posh and you're the chauffeur so stop ordering and start serving, Hardison." Anna pulls the bow tie tight. "Don't fiddle, Hardison. That tie is flipping perfect so don't you dare ruin it. Got it? Got it? Got. It." Anna demanded.

"Hell yeah, I got it, just don't bite my head off. And don't send Eliot after me neither. Kay?" Hardison asked, desperately wanting to adjust his bow tie, but as he liked his limbs attached so he left it.

"Course." Anna dropped the anger instantly, yet again creeping Hardison out. She smiled politely and got off the chair and dragged it over to where Nate was sat with Sophie. "Sophie, could I um, ask you something?"

"Sure, sweetie." Sophie replied. Anna smiled but didn't say anything. Sophie took the hint and glared at Nate, he looked back.

"What?" He asked defensively.

"Oh, take a hint Nate." Sophie said, kicking Nate under the table. Nate finally took the hint and left, with Eliot close behind.

"What's wrong Anna?" Sophie asked, now that Nate and Eliot had finally gone to inspect Hardison's tux… and mock him horribly for it.

"I dunno. What if I mess it up, Sophie? What if I don't-" Anna began a nervous ramble, subconsciously picking at her fingers.

"Shh. Don't worry, everything is going to be perfect. Just perfect." Sophie said reassuringly, she was glad Anna hadn't exactly worked out how to tell if good liars (like Sophie) were lying yet.

"Sure?" Anna asked.

"Sure." Sophie confirmed.

"Everyone says that." Anna said, brushing Sophie off. It was true, everyone was 'sure' of something.

"Like who?" Sophie asked, surely someone had had faith in her? Enough to give her the truth.

"Everyone. You, Nate, my foster parents; all of them, school teachers, Hartwright, the guys at The Corner." Anna said dejectedly. Sophie understood that Anna had almost no faith in people whatsoever and although Sophie made a living out of using trust and fate, she was saddened that the girl had no one she could trust completely.

"But I meant it, Anna. I really did." Sophie tried to save the situation with a small smile. Anna looked away at the floor.

"Sure you do." She said glumly.

"See? Now you're saying it too." Sophie said, Anna smiled slightly and giggled. "See there we go. There's the Anna we all know."

"I'm sorry; I don't usually fall to pieces." Anna began to explain herself, worried that she looked a total idiot in front of Sophie who was the closest thing Anna had ever had to an idol.

"All fears are okay, they make you human." Sophie explained; it was something every grifter should be aware of: everyone, no matter how tough they seem to be, has at least one fear. At least.

"So Eliot's a mutant?" Anna asked. Sophie laughed at the way Anna's logical brain processed things.

Eliot frowned at her from across the room, "I am _not _a mutant! I'm not scared of much but I am scared of some stuff."

Anna smiled. "Oh yeah? Like what?"

Eliot frowned, that was a good question. What was he scared of? "Stuff."

Anna leant over and whispered as loudly as she could, "Definitely a mutant."

"I am not!" Eliot exclaimed. Anna just laughed at how easy he was to wind up.

"Eliot." Nate warned, Eliot frowned some more.

"I'm thinking maybe we should go before Eliot punches somebody, 'cause I don't like my chances." Hardison commented, which did nothing to calm Eliot. He promptly stormed out of Nate's apartment, yet again managing to slam a door _open_.

"I think that means yes." Anna said laughing.

* * *

**A/N: Did we like? Oo! I forgot to mention, in England we call braids 'plaits', French plaits are the complicated ones that start at the top of your head, like in Madeline, that include all your hair. I think that's all of my strange British-isms... Have a wonderful 2013! **


	7. An Inconvenience at Most

**A/N: Hiya! Please don't hate me for not posting in literally like two months! :( I'm very sorry but I've had mocks and exams and evil teachers screaming at me. I hate Year 11. So very much. Anyhoo... I hope you like the chapter it's extra special long just for you guys and a huge THANK YOU! to everyone who has reviewed my story, your opinions are much appreciated! :D Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage. Wish I did, but I don't. Then there would be an episode a day and it would never ever be cancelled. Ever.**

* * *

Anna looked in the mirror, her plaits were slightly looser than they had been when Sophie had plaited them, but all in all they looked fine. Hardison tilted up the rear view mirror so he could see Anna rather than Anna seeing Anna. "You sorted?" Hardison asked.

"Done now." Anna said, she smiled excitedly. "Let's do this." Hardison rolled forwards in the Maybach they had… acquired from a parking lot somewhere. Who knew people in Boston drove Maybachs?

"You do know this is just the set-up for the actual play, right?" Sophie said, smiling at Anna's enthusiasm.

She nodded even more enthusiastically, even though Sophie had no idea how you could possibly be more enthusiastic than she already was. "This is my favourite bit, don't ruin my moment." Anna said, relaxing into her seat. Hardison stopped the car slowly and waited. Why weren't they getting out?

Anna tapped Hardison on the shoulder. "This is generally the part where the chauffeur lets out the car." Hardison turned round.

"How about you let your damn self outta the car? Why do I gotta do everything round here?" Hardison asked, he did feel kind of picked on.

"Etiquette, Hardison. Now get off your butt and let me and Sophie out of the car." Anna said, in a perfect British accent.

"Okay, Miss Demanding. I'm getting on it." Hardison huffed and frowned and sulked but he eventually got out of his seat and opened Anna's door.

"Perfect." Anna commented, smiling.

"What do you mean, perfect? I just called you demanding, kid and-" Hardison said, still confused.

"That's what I'm going for." Hardison nodded. "Demanding and bored out of my mind." Anna said as she swung her legs out of the car. Hardison gave Anna a hand up and she brushed down her dress. "Don't forget to be British." Anna whispered. Her voice grew slightly louder for her last comment: "Thanks, Carl."

"Carl? I am gonna kill you! I'm-" Hardison whispered, still very American and very grumpy.

"Just get Sophie out the car and drive around the block until I call you." Anna said, clearly smiling at the fact that she had all the power for the time being.

Hardison pulled out his British accent and smiled at her, "Sure thing, Miss Elizabeth. See you in a jiffy."

"Thanks again Carl." Anna teetered round to Sophie's door, followed by Hardison.

* * *

Mark Danver looked out of his window; he watched a car pulling up 20 stories below him. A young blonde girl wearing a pleated skirt and a cable-knit jumper and a woman with dark brown hair and one of the most expensive dresses he'd ever seen outside of an event stepped out of the posh car and walked towards his office's main door. "Who's that?" Danver asked. His bumbling assistant, Jenkins, turned round to face him. Jenkins wasn't scared of Danver exactly, just wary of his... outbursts. "Well, then?" Danver said impatiently.

"Oh, yes sir. Well, yes sir. There's a slight hitch, sir." Jenkins rambled to himself.

"Spit it out, man." Danver said, getting increasingly impatient.

"We don't know, sir. But they look mighty rich, sir." Jenkins mumbled. Danver turned away from the window and glared at him. What earth had he ever hired him?

"Well don't just stand there, man! Do something! Find out!" Danver snapped, Jenkins nodded and backed out of the office before Danver changed his mind.

* * *

"Are they buying it?" Nate asked inside Anna's ear. The comms thing was freaking her out a bit; everything was weird enough without people living inside her head.

"Yeah, Danver's getting all flustered about something and he's staring at me." Anna tried to remain calm and bit her tongue before she ended up revealing that unsettling feeling in her stomach that she knew him.

Sophie smiled and then frowned. The girl was good. Almost too good. She'd managed to look up at the window without anyone, including Sophie herself, noticing whilst still managing to work out who the tiny figure in the window was.

Sophie stumbled right on cue and Anna could practically feel Danver smiling. Rich ill people were his 'thing' apparently. Anna grabbed Sophie's arm just in time and smiled at her warmly, Sophie smiled back and for a moment Anna forgot this was an act and hoped beyond hope that she could have a mother like Sophie. A real mother who cared. Anna was attempting to tread lightly and not get too involved, especially after what happened at The Corner, but the long con had always intrigued her as a much more eloquent way of stealing and she'd let herself be pulled in. Anna didn't want to think about what would happen if it all went wrong, it hardly ever happened to guys as good as this, right?

Nate scruffed up his hair, pulled at his oversized jacket and trundle round the corner swigging beer from a bottle. Except what he was drinking didn't taste anything like the beer that should have been inside it, in fact it tasted distinctly like… blackcurrant squash. Clearly Anna thought his 'method acting' wasn't a good idea. "Hold it, Nate. Danver hasn't even come out for lunch yet." Anna warned; she was ever so slightly on-edge about the whole thing as she was terrified of letting everyone down. Like last time.

"I can see that, Anna. I'm just setting the scene. Now you do what you do, Anna." Nate said, hoping his sudden lack of a vocabulary had made any sense. The reason he'd lost most of his vocabulary was mainly down to Sophie, and to be specific: her dress. It was… well, stunning. Sophie permanently had that 'I just walked out of a salon' look about her but **those** dresses set her apart from any girl Nate had ever met. So, Nate had a schoolboy crush on Sophie, but honestly, every guy did a little bit; that was her job. There would be something wrong if he didn't fancy her. Well, that's what he kept telling himself.

"Right, 'doing what I do'." Anna coughed slightly and took a deep breath. Here goes nothing, she thought to herself. "Mum. I'm bored." Anna whined perfectly. All those years of failed auditions had finally paid off. For the first time, Nate heard her voice out loud inside of in his comms, she wasn't louder; she could just be heard better, picked out of a crowd more easily.

"Elizabeth, sweetheart, we have to be here." Sophie said, in one of those 'I'm trying not to be condescending here' voices. Anna sighed, the name Elizabeth was so much nicer than her own; it could be shortened to girly names like Lizzy, posh names like Eliza or more down-to-earth names like Beth. But here she was stuck with 'Anna'. Anna couldn't be shortened, changed or personalised in any way and it was just so… naff.

"I know, but it's so bloody boring." Sophie and Anna had had a conversation about American ideas about British people and after getting past the 'drinking tea with the Queen' stage they'd decided that apart from the accent British people could be distinguished in conversation by their use of 'bloody' and 'bollocks' because those were just **so **British. Apparently.

"Language!" Sophie squealed, which made Nate and Anna repress a laugh as Sophie never squealed about anything. Except certain person's cheekbones, but they didn't mention that.

"Sorry." Anna said, in a typical teenager 'I don't actually feel sorry but I thought I'd say it anywa' type of way.

"Thank you." Sophie said curtly. Anyone listening in, and there were quite a few, could tell she didn't mean it any more than Anna what she had said. The people listening in were trying to act nonchalantly but were easily picked out for being slightly too interested in something just beyond Sophie and Anna and having a strange desire to strain to listen for the pigeons singing.

"I really don't know why you dragged me all the way from London to Boston so we can open a will that Dad already orchestrated to fit around him just to be disappointed and return home." Anna complained, Sophie noticed Anna deviation from what they had discussed but she went along with it, sure that Anna or Nate would reel it in.

"Out of respect for your grandmother!" By this point, Anna and Sophie had stopped walking and had started a full out argument (well, as full out as the British get, anyway), attracting the interest of a quite a few people, hopefully including Danver himself. Otherwise this would just be a useless social experiment into to how people react to British people arguing outside of office blocks.

"I never even met my grandmother, thanks to your wonderful choice in men!" Anna shouted, for some reason she was enjoying this. She'd never actually had a shouting match with anyone before. Ever. Anna concentrated on Sophie's look of disgust. She was an amazing actress, Anna's heart skipped a beat momentarily as for a moment she forgot that Sophie was just acting.

"Excuse me missy!" Sophie shrieked, Anna winced and suddenly she wasn't 'acting' anymore. It clicked. She understood why 'Elizabeth' was so annoyed at her mum and why her mum was reacting like she was. Maybe this was what a long con did to people, Anna wasn't sure. "You will not speak to your mother in that way!"

"You're not my mother! She died! You're a replacement!" Well, if anyone hadn't been listening in on the conversation, they certainly were now. A replacement mother? How scandalous! People would talk about anything given the chance.

"Elizabeth!" Sophie's voice was shrill but still terrifying. Anna hated being shouted at but she knew that 'Elizabeth' loved the attention and that 'Elizabeth' would fight back.

Sophie momentarily glanced into the lobby and saw Danver concentrating hard on their conversation. She began to whisper inaudibly but Hardison's awesome earpiece meant that Anna heard every single word. "Nate, I can see him in the lobby. Time to make your move."

"Here we go. Time to be drunk." Nate said through the comms, his words already slurring despite the distinct lack of alcohol in his squash.

"Again." Sophie muttered, momentarily forgetting about the comms.

"Thank you, Sophie." Anna spotted Nate in the reflection of a shop window and shivered; he looked like a wreck. Suddenly Nate's drunken slur got much worse and Nate forgot how to walk in a straight line. "Annabella! Elizabeth! How are you two fine ladies today?" He said, attracting the attention of everyone around him. Anna wondered if being nosy was a requirement of being in this square.

"Oh god, not again. Daniel, go away!" Sophie huffed to herself. Now the bystanders were beginning to perk up, the snappy British mum knew the drunken guy? How interesting!

"What happened to 'Danny'? You haven't called me Daniel in years!" Nate's drunken state was alarmingly realistic although Anna vaguely remembered Parker mentioning her go-to-guy being a drunken mastermind.

"I haven't seen you in years!" Sophie retorted. Anna wondered how they managed to seamlessly connect their arguments, playing off each other like they had been training for the conversation all their lives.

"Where's the Annie that used to be so happy? So free? So pretty?" Nate teased. I knew how this was supposed to go, but I was almost 100% sure that Nate wouldn't stick to the script. He didn't seem like the rules type. True to form, he slapped Sophie's arse. Sophie jolted forward and Anna couldn't quite determine how much of Sophie's disgusted face was acting and how much was Sophie's real horror about what Nate had done. Anna knew that somewhere, Hardison and Eliot were having a hard time keeping a straight face. Nate grabbed Anna's shoulder in a kind of jokey guy-to-guy way and 'Elizabeth' wasn't having any of it. "I bet she's a complete bore, huh?" He joked. Anna scowled.

"Get. Off." She wasn't over-the-top or snappy or demanding, in fact she was rather quiet. Quiet but insistent. Anna shrugged Nate's hand off her shoulder, just for him to replace it moments later, gripping tighter. "I said; get off!" Anna shouted, she would never admit it but she was just a teensy bit terrified.

"Elizabeth," Nate said condescendingly, "don't say you don't miss your favourite dad?" Anna fumed, she wanted to kick him.

"Favourite? I've only had one pathetic excuse for a dad and he's standing right in front of me. So, it you don't mind-" Anna wrenched Nate's hand off her shoulder and pulled it down, clearly pulling his shoulder in a less-than-comfortable direction. And then, without really thinking about it, Anna slapped him. Hard. Nate winced and stepped back, grabbing his cheek.

"That's my girl!" Eliot said in the comms, and Anna had to bite her lip so she didn't smile.

"Get! Out!" Anna shouted much louder than intended. "Bloody hell, Daniel! Do you want Carl to punch your face in?" Anna was on a roll, barely thinking about what she was saying.

"Say no!" Hardison said. Anna tried not to laugh and his hilarious outburst. "I do not wanna get out my car! I like the comfy seats!" Nate cocked his head ever so slightly as if considering Hardison's comment.

"Well, haven't you got some bite!" Nate said, Hardison sighed audibly at Nate's decision. "Look, I'm backing off." Nate took a step back and almost tripped over his own fit. Anna noted just how good he was at being drunk, almost too good. "See you at Granny's funeral, Annie!" Nate shouted as he wandered off in anything but a straight line, hitting on every single girl on the way.

Danver decided to make his move, the woman was clearly in an emotional state, perfect for slipping her the idea that she wanted to give him all her money. That girl, she would be a problem. An inconvenience at most.

Anna glanced at Danver who was smiling like the Cheshire Cat. "I think I'm going to be sick." She remarked quietly to no one in particular. For a moment, she expected Parker to say something hilariously deadpan or something hyperactive. But she didn't. She might not ever again.

"Why?" Sophie asked, Anna looked up out of her daze and sighed.

"His happy face makes me want to puke." Anna said. Sophie couldn't help noticing how much of Anna was like Parker, she could imagine Parker saying what Anna had just said and everyone just thinking that that was just Parker.

"Excuse me, miss?" Danver said, walking up behind them and instantly turning on the charm. Anna glanced at Sophie with a cheeky smile all over her face that dropped the moment she turned round. They were in business. "Are you okay?" For a corrupt corporate, he had wonderful manners, Anna mused to herself.

"We're fine, sir." Anna forced the words out between her teeth, thinking about all those times Parker had said exactly the same thing in exactly the same way.

"That's it, Anna, don't fall too quickly. For the record, Sophie you've fallen, landed brushed yourself off and written him a cheque." Nate said, Anna wasn't quite sure if it was a compliment or not, it was slightly back-handed and Nate didn't seem like the complimenting type.

"Who was that?" Danver gestured to the direction Nate had hobbled off. Anna assumed he'd found his way back to Lucille without falling over.

"My-" Sophie began. Anna knew that cutting her off wasn't exactly the plan, but 'Elizabeth' decided it was a good idea.

"No one, sir." Anna kept adding 'sir' to the end of her phrase but it was forced, which was probably ruder than no 'sir' at all. Just how Anna liked it.

"You're one tough cookie, aren't you?" Danver teased. Anna gave a quick glance at Sophie, should she run into his arms? Should she stay strong? She knew she had to pose a threat but not too big of a threat. How big was too big? Danver offered her his disposable coffee cup. "Here, have my hot chocolate. I didn't want it anyway." Anna knew that that hot chocolate had been bought for her; it was supposed to melt her heart. Giving in would happen sooner or later, and 'Elizabeth' (and Anna) really wanted that hot chocolate.

Anna took the cup out of his hands and it warmed her hands as she gripped it. She took a sip and smiled, aware of the cute little chocolate moustache she was sporting. That was some amazing hot chocolate, like the type you get in Belgium where they simply melt their finest chocolate into some hot milk. "Thanks, Mr-?" Anna was hoping Danver would take the hint and finish her sentence for her.

"Danver. Mark Danver." Danver said, feeling very James Bond. Anna didn't see why American found that phrase so appealing, and anyway it only worked in a British RP accent.

"Thanks, Mr Danver." Anna couldn't resist taking another gulp from the amazing hot chocolate Danver had given her. "That was the provider of my second X chromosome. He's horrible. We moved out when I was five or something. Annie's not even my real mum, not that you'd know it, the way she looks after me." Anna turned to smile at Sophie, who smiled back. Anna almost forgot that the smile was a fake. Just a cover story.

"Any time like the present, Sophie." Nate reminded us of why we were actually there and, slightly belatedly, Sophie coughed and stumbled. Anna rushed to grab her, whilst Danver just stood there, looking faintly amused.

"Are you okay, Miss-?" Sophie noticed that Danver used exactly the same phrasing to ask her name as Anna did to ask his. Either he wasn't very good at being original or he was copying their speech patterns to make them at ease with themselves. Maybe he wasn't such an idiot… or maybe he was.

"Annie Lovegood." Anna filled in for Sophie who was still attempting to fake wheeze and cough without making herself sick (on one of her first cons she'd found out the hard way that too much fake coughing makes you wretch). "I'm Elizabeth." Anna paused trying to try to think of the right words, even though she already knew how this was going to go. "She, um, well, she's really ill and it's-" Anna paused as if she could say the next few words out loud without choking up. "It's not getting any better."

"Oh, really?" Anna noticed that Danver was trying to speak with concern, but he let slip a grin that signalled that he thought he'd hit the jackpot. He probably would have if Annie and Elizabeth Lovegood existed.

"Um, yeah." Anna realised that 'Elizabeth' had finally given in to this man's *ahem* charm and that she should probably just stick with that feeling for the time being.

"She seems pretty ill, how about you come inside and grab a glass of water or something?" Danver asked, attempting to slip the idea in nonchalantly and not failing at it. Well, not failing at it too much.

"Thank you." Sophie said, smiling and standing slightly straighter. Anna looked at her confused, wasn't there supposed to be some argument now or something?

"Mum?" Anna looked at Sophie, expecting some hidden explanation.

"Elizabeth, he's a sweet man, let him be nice." Sophie explained, although Anna didn't see it as a particularly helpful explanation. However Sophie was glaring ever so slightly, so Anna let it slide, confident that Sophie had everything under control.

Danver grinned, "Thank you, Miss Lovegood. Now, if you would like to follow me."

* * *

**A/N: Did we like? Hope so! Side note: British RP means British Received Pronunciation, so basically BBC English or the Queen's English. Yet again, my Britishness is getting in the way of a (hopefully) good story! Quick question: Am I the only person who hasn't watched The Long Goodbye Job yet because if they haven't seen it then Leverage hasn't technically finished yet? Is that just me? **

**TTFN! Ta-ta for now! (That's a Tigger quote for those of you silly people who didn't know that!)**


	8. Long Time, No See

**A/N: Hiya! Just to prove how sorry I am for abandoning my lovely fans for almost two months here is another chapter! And I know it's short but I think you'll understand why I left it where I did. You might wish I hadn't but you're going to have to deal with that :P I forgot to add this to the last chapter but I'd like to give a shout out to ranger353 who gave me a very nice review but the internet decided that I was forbidden from sending you a PM! So, THANK YOU! :D Reviews and comments much appreciated as always: Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage. Not even the vile tasting water and the uncomfortable chair.**

* * *

Anna had abandoned her chair. Naturally, since she was the ill one, Sophie had got the comfier chair. Anna had eventually given up on wriggling and began to pace around the room. She wasn't bored. She was on edge, taking in everything from Danver's office's lavish furnishings, to the font used in the file in front of Sophie. From the brand of Sophie's mug filled with hot chocolate to the vile taste of the water in her own glass. Since when could plain old water taste this disgusting?

"-If you're sure." Danver said, trying not to push the deal too hard, but he knew that this deal would be the beginning of one of the most profitable jobs he'd ever undertaken.

"Yes." Sophie said simply, she turned to Anna. "Elizabeth, sweetheart, are you done yet?"

Anna was pretty sure she didn't want a single drop more of this vile water so she abandoned it on a coaster on Danver's desk. "I don't want any more," Sophie glared at her. Anna remembered her manners, "thank you."

"We'll come back soon, just to finish up some of that paperwork." Sophie and Danver both stood up and Danver shook Sophie's hand.

"You guys done yet?" Despite the fact that Anna wasn't bored, 'Elizabeth' was. Very much so.

"Don't sound so exasperated, Elizabeth, we're nearly done here." Sophie sounded pretty exasperated herself, but was attempting to hide it. Well, she was attempting to look like she was attempting to hide it.

"This is even more boring that watching you find a hat for Granny's funeral." Anna whined, Sophie shot her a look.

"Elizabeth!" She said firmly, Anna scowled at her and walked off without so much as an apology; so much for manners. "Sorry, she's upset about her grandmother and jet-lagged from the long flight."

"I understand." Danver said, smoothing down his suit for the nineteenth time (Anna had been counting). "Used to have a little girl myself, she'd be fifteen this year, like Elizabeth. Always used to be stubborn and grumpy." Danver was rather reminiscent for someone so used to foul play.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry." Sophie said, even though she was intrigued by the small details he was letting loose about his past.

Anna froze momentarily and began to amble as quickly as she could to the other side of the room. "Nate. I didn't tell him my age and he can't have guessed because frankly, I look like I'm twelve. Nate, I don't like this." Anna said into her comms hoping that Nate would respond with something other than sarcasm or a grunt.

Luckily Nate had something productive to say; "Don't worry Anna, just go with it. Sophie, can we wrap this up?" Anna glanced over at Sophie who hopefully wasn't planning on ignoring him.

"We really must go; we have to get ready for-" Sophie began.

"Finally." Anna said, and she was pretty sure it wasn't just 'Elizabeth' that wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Sophie turned to face Anna, who was slowly making her way across the room.

"Okay then, sweetheart." Sophie said, she turned to Danver and shook his hand one final time. "Thank you so much for your time, Mr Danver." Anna reached where Sophie was standing and they both exited the door, Sophie clutching the file Danver had given her and Anna clutching on her own hands, whitening her knuckles.

Anna breathed a sigh of relief. She never ever wanted to meet that man again. Ever.

"Jenkins!" Danver called, within a few moments Jenkins appeared in his doorway.

"Yes sir?" He answered meekly.

"Take the girl's glass. Tell me who she really is. I think I've found her." Danver smirked to himself. It was all going just as planned.

"Are you sure, sir?" Jenkins asked, Danver had thought he'd found her with every single blonde girl who'd walked in the door.

"Do I pay you to question me or do I pay you to FOLLOW ORDERS?" Danver bellowed, his charming façade long gone now that the client had left.

"Sorry, sir. I'll get Avernforth to-" Jenkins began.

"No, I asked for you. You will sort this. By tomorrow." Danver ordered. Jenkins winced and nodded. He pulled out two white latex gloves from one of his pockets and pulled them on. He picked up the glass as delicately as he could and turned to face Danver again.

"Yes, sir. By tomorrow, sir." He said, trying to get out of the room as quickly as possible.

"Now, clear out!" Jenkins left, holding the glass with two hands, desperately trying to counteract how much his hands were shaking.

Danver smiled widely, it was one of those grins that gave you nightmares about clowns.

"Hello, Anna. Long time, no see."

* * *

**A/N: Dun dun DUUUNNNN! Excited? Scared? Annoyed at me for not writing past the cliffhanger? Go on, rant at me in a review! It's better than nothing! TTFN! (I would like to acknowledge that I have posted an entire chapter without a single British-ism! Go me!)**


	9. Home Sweet Home

**A/N: Ciao! (I prefer ciao to hiya, makes me sound less like a checkout-girl, don't you think?) Anyhoo... I told this would be right around the corner! Ta-dah! Two chapters in less than ten minutes, gosh darn it aren't you people lucky! Quick questions: 1. Any of you a fan of Suits as well? If so, was it just me that thought the mark from the Two Horse Job was literally Lewis at a horse stable? 2. Any of you a fan of NCIS as well? If so, have you seen the one with Beth Riesgraf being a gamer girl who plays laser tag and keeps getting shot? Anybody else like to think that was one of Parker's aliases and Hardison had taught her how to play video games and stuff? How cool would that be? Anyhoo... Enjoy!**

* * *

"I'm back! Did you miss me?" Anna said in a sing-song voice as she stepped into Nate's apartment. Nate had given her enough money to get the bus to the corner store and back and Anna was significantly happier now that she had bought a hairbrush, gotten off the bus and returned to normality.

Everyone was silent. They turned to look at her with forlorn looks on their faces. "What happened?" Anna asked.

"Danver, well he," Hardison began, searching for the right word. Anna knew what he was going to say, she'd wrecked it and it was all her fault and they never wanted to see her again. "He took the bait!" They all suddenly changed their tune as they all smiled at her and applauded.

"Nice job, kid!" Hardison said, jokingly punching her in the shoulder. She punched him back and they laughed.

"A* for annoyingness!" Eliot said, giving her a thwack on the back. What was it with American guys and hitting each other as a way of congratulations? Seriously?

"Guess I don't have to throw you out the window, huh?" Nate said. Anna realised that was the closed she was going to get to a compliment and she took as it the highest praise possible. That wasn't too far off the truth.

"Well done on your first con! You aced it, sweetheart!" Sophie said, hugging her again. Anna saw that this was going to become something of a recurring theme but she hugged her back.

"Thanks, Sophie. How'd we know he took the bait?" Anna plonked herself down on the sofa, tucking her feet up and hugging her knees. She'd look timid and sad if she didn't have such a huge grin plastered all over her face.

"He's looked at that website I set up for your dead husband, Sophie. And he is all over it. Having his techies pull it to shreds. They're so cute just prodding around my site expecting my aliases to fall apart! My aliases! Who does he think he's dealing with?" Hardison ranted, his hands flailing and his orange soda nearly spilling everywhere.

"Annabelle Lovegood?" Anna suggested. Hardison scowled at her, she was so annoyingly right. All the damn time. That kid was unbearably awesome.

"Guys. Update." Nate said, everyone sat around Anna and Hardison began to blab. Anna was sure that the update was very important and she probably should be listening but the way the rain was hitting the window and the softness of the sofa and how tired she was just lulled her into a deep sleep… filled with lock picks… and art heists… and screams.

"You stupid girl! You're better off in the gutter!"

"Your mother would be ashamed of you! That's if she hadn't jumped in front of that car! You just make so many problems!"

"Anna! Get in here! You have to clean up! Now! Or you can sleep in the wine cellar with the rats! Which part of now do you not understand?! NOW!"

"You don't deserve the food on your plate! Your idiotic mother could do a better job than you!"

"I'm not drunk! I'm trying to forget my mistakes! Namely, you!"

"STOP IT!" Anna screeched. She looked up. Where was she? What had that man done to her? Where had he taken her?

"Anna?!" Sophie ran into the room. "Sweetie, what's wrong?" Anna looked up at Sophie and realised where she was: the guest room in Nate's apartment. No one had tried to attack her. She was safe.

"Nothing. Just a stupid dream." Anna lied. The dream hadn't felt like a dream; it had felt real. Like a memory. "I'm fine. Honest."

Sophie looked at Anna, they both knew she was lying but Sophie let it drop. She had a con to manage and a dress to source. And Nate was running out of coffee.

"What time is it?" Anna asked, her body clock was less than great in England but she was sure that yesterday's jet lag wasn't doing her any favours.

"About seven in the morning." Sophie admitted.

"Oh shoot!" Anna exclaimed. She looked down at herself, shrugged and ran out of the room. Sophie wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but she guessed that Anna had somewhere to be.

"Eliot!" Anna's muffled shout came through the door.

"What?!" Eliot was not happy. Sophie had convinced him to stay the night for Anna's sake whilst Nate got jittery on coffee and Sophie fretted about pretty much everything, in a very un-Sophie-like manner. He'd managed to get some sleep on Nate's sofa, and now he'd been woken up early by that stupid little girl whining.

"We have to get to my place. Now." Anna said, grabbing her backpack from behind Eliot's head. She was still dressed in the all-blacks she'd used for the heist yesterday because she hadn't got any extra clothes. They were at her place, but that wasn't the problem.

"Why? You run out of annoyingness and your stash is at your place?!" Eliot snapped. Anna winced. Why was she wincing? She wasn't scared. She'd dealt with people like Eliot before and she hadn't been scared then.

"No, I just left some stuff there. Important stuff. That I need." Anna said. 'Important' was something of an understatement.

"Sure thing. I'm free for hire if you're looking. Especially at seven in the morning! Let me grab my damn bag and you better be ready when I am." Eliot stormed off into another room that Anna had barely noticed before. When he came back he looked slightly less like a grumpy demanding actor that just woke up and more like a hitter. "Let's go. Nate, we're borrowing Lucille for a bit!"

"Who's 'we'?" Nate shouted from somewhere in his apartment.

"Anna and me!" Eliot shouted back. Anna got the feeling that shouting conversations throughout the apartment were something of a regular occurrence.

"Don't throttle her and come back soon!" Nate shouted. Anna grinned at Eliot. Eliot tried to frown back but Anna's charming little smile forced his frown into a smile.

"See you later Nate!" Anna shouted, smiling lots. She was compensating for the feeling of dread she had, she had a sneaky suspicion that her previous employer wouldn't have exactly just left the door unlocked for her.

"So where are we going?" Eliot asked Anna as he swerved through traffic.

"I'm above some quaint little bakery called-" Anna began.

"The Boston Bakery?" Eliot finished Anna's sentence for her. She nodded with a confused look on her face.

"How'd you know that?" Anna asked, suddenly on the defensive. She didn't like people knowing things. Things about her.

"It's two blocks down from Nate's place." Eliot said. "Parker practically lives down there. Every time Nate gets the gang together, she spends as much time as she possibly can buying cakes there. Sometimes she goes in there and inhales the cakes. Apparently it's almost as good as eating them."

"Inhaling cakes? Sounds like Parker alright. That bakery's got an insane Danish pastry. I could eat those all day and never get tired." Eliot swung the car round and they began heading back towards McRory's. "Wait, why are we turning round?"

"Because I missed the damn turning 'cause you couldn't be bothered to give me the right address!" Eliot grunted.

"You didn't ask for it!" Anna snapped back. Eliot didn't react. He merely stared at the road ahead and Anna stared out of her side window, refusing to even look at Eliot.

"We're here." Eliot said gruffly.

"I know that!" Anna snapped. She'd been counting the blocks since they'd turned around; it had helped to keep her from even acknowledging her driver's presence.

"Well, if you're so damn sure you can walk next time!" Eliot said, frowning. That stupid kid woke him up early and now he was just driving her places close enough for her to walk to and sitting around doing nothing.

"Maybe I will!" She said indignantly. She opened the van's door and got out, slamming it shut.

Anna stormed around the van and towards the bakery. Eliot watched as she suddenly became a cheery little girl without a care in the world, who just wanted a Danish pastry.

* * *

Anna pushed open the door and smiled at the shop assistant, who was leaning lazily on the counter. "Hey Mandy!"

"Oh, hey Emily! How was that play you worked on? Must be fun working backstage!" Mandy said, smiling at Anna. Anna genuinely liked Mandy and felt bad for lying to her, but she didn't want Mandy to ever get involved in what she was doing, so she lied instead. She was pretty proud of her cover story for wearing black, helping out backstage at a school play. So, she'd done better but she'd been put on the spot and she'd freaked.

"It was great, thanks. Mandy have you got any Dan-" Anna began, but Mandy interrupted.

"A Danish pastry? I've been saving you one since yesterday! Where were you? I got real worried!" Mandy handed her a pastry in a paper bag and Anna handed over the change she needed.

"Just doing some stuff with friends, you know, the usual." Anna made her way towards the back door, where her apartment was. "See you later, Mandy." Anna smiled at Mandy and hurled herself up the stairs.

As she picked the lock with her hair slide, Anna wondered why she ever needed Eliot in the first place. She could have walked here by herself and it's not like Eliot was of any use now.

Anna pushed the door open and looked at her pathetic excuse for an apartment. She currently owned a microwave, a counter, a sink and a sofa bed. Whoever said that being a thief was glamorous had definitely watched one too many heist movies.

"Home sweet home." She mumbled sarcastically as she flicked the lights on. She walked over to the sofa bed and opened it up. Anna was just about to reach under the bed for her money/clothes stash when she heard a click. It wasn't someone clicking their fingers or flicking a light-switch or cracking their knuckles or any other type of clicking sound she would want to hear. It was a gun clicking. And it was right behind her head.

Crap.

* * *

**A/N: Oooo! Exciting and terrifying! Aren't I evil for giving you another cliffhanger so soon? And without even resolving the last one! Mwahahahaha! Don't worry, everybody's favourite sadistic lawyer will be returning in the near future. Yay! So, send me a review! It makes me feel loved, you know? Like people care! Which is nice! I'm the conspiracies I'm getting about how Danver knows Anna, interesting... very interesting... Another shout-out for ranger353 for their sheer awesomeness! Yay for you dearie!**

**TTFN! **


	10. What an Idiot

**A/N: Ciao! How are you? Do you know what happened today? It snowed! In late February! In England! What is this?! Anyhoo... Here's your cliff hanger resolution :) (Well, one of them. We have yet to sort out that Danver business) Be grateful dearies! Quick shout out for EmilyAnnGibbs because she is very awesome and gives superbly nice reviews! THANK YOU! So go on, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Leverage. Not even the yummy Danish pastries or the deadpan snarking... Shame that.**

* * *

Eliot sat in the van, bored as heck. As far as he was aware, he wasn't even needed here and Anna had invited him for the sake of it. It's not like she was going to be hacked into tiny pieces the second she walked in the door.

He noticed the lights turning on in the window above the bakery. "How did it take her this long to walk up a flight of stairs?" Eliot grumbled to himself. He readjusted himself in his seat, surprisingly van seats were not made for waiting for unbelievably long amounts of waiting because a certain bratty teenage girl couldn't get her act together.

* * *

Anna froze. She didn't dare move a muscle.

"Move and I shoot. Speak and I shoot. Breathe too loudly and I will shoot. You got me?" A gruff voice said. Anna suddenly had an epiphany on why she'd brought Eliot in the first place. Not that that was doing her any good now, she could feel her heart rate soaring and her knees on the brink of buckling.

"Almost there, boss." Another voice said. "We'll make it look like an accident." An accident? Accidents were bad news, Anna knew that much.

* * *

This was getting ridiculous. Anna should have been out by now. Eliot was getting shifty, something seemed off. There was something he should know but just didn't. That bugged him.

Eliot sighed. That was it, he was going in to drag Anna's butt out whether she was done or not. Eliot jumped out of the van, barely remembering to shut and lock the doors before running towards the cutesy little bakery.

"Hello, can I help?" The shop assistant asked.

"Yeah, you seen a kid in here? About fifteen? Blonde hair?" Eliot asked, missing out qualities such as tardiness and brattiness because Anna had probably turned on the charm for her.

"Yeah, Emily. She lives upstairs. Strange for a kid to be on her own, but she seems sweet and-" The shop assistant began, smiling.

"Great. Stay here. Don't let anyone in, kay?" Eliot said, running his hands through his hair. Bad habit. The assistant nodded, slightly terrified by Eliot's brash nature. "Which way?" The girl just stood there. "Which way?!" Eliot knew he sounded more urgent than necessary but something seemed off. The assistant pointed to a door to the left and Eliot ran full speed, only just making the turning for the stairs.

* * *

"What's an accident?" Anna blurted out.

"I said no talking!" The man behind her pressed the gun into the back of her head. Anna shuddered. She should have seen this coming. She should have come earlier, with back-up that she hadn't majorly pissed off. "You wanna die little girl? Do ya? Do ya?!" The man pressed the gun further into her head and Anna tried not to wince.

"All set, boss. Just waiting for the call." The second voice said. What call? And what was 'all set'?

Anna didn't want to die.

Anna felt the pressure on the back of her head ease up slightly and she prayed that the guy behind her had had a change of heart. As if.

"Three." The second voice began his countdown. "Two. One." The man with the gun sprinted across the apartment, and out of the door. Anna span round just to catch a glimpse of his shoe as bolted out of the fire escape. Anna desperately tried to remember what the men looked like but it was all a haze.

Then Anna noticed the lit matches on her bare floor boards.

* * *

Eliot ran up the steps two at a time. "Anna!" Eliot took in a deep breath and froze. That smell, he knew that smell; it was the smell of burning wood. Eliot charged up the stairs missing out as many as his muscles would allow. "Anna?!" However much he tried to hide it, the panic was showing through in his voice. He got to the door and saw Anna. And fire.

Anna looked up and saw Eliot and smiled. He was here to save her. Everything was going to be okay. She stepped forward to reach Eliot but hit something hot. It hurt. Anna blinked, snapping out of her daze.

Crap. She was standing on a lit match.

"Anna, you have to come with me. Now." Anna stepped towards him, ignoring the searing pain in her foot and the distinct lack of the bottom of her left trouser leg. Eliot grabbed Anna by the shoulders and wrenched her out the door. "Come on, let's go." Anna shrugged his hands off her shoulders and turned to face the slowly burning room as if she wanted to go back inside. "Anna! We need to go before the cops get here. Come on." Anna ignored Eliot's request.

"I need to get something." She said as she stepped into the room. She knew exactly where it was, but getting to it was the problem. The fire was slowly spreading and Anna needed her stuff. She reached the sofa bed and coughed, the smoke was slowly filling the room but that didn't matter. Her stuff did. She pulled on the lever and the mechanism opened the bed.

Eliot looked on astounded. Anna needed something she kept in a sofa bed? He knew he should let her handle it but the floor was being devoured by the flames and the smoke was building up. They didn't have enough time. They had to go. "Anna! We have to go! Now!" However, Anna seemed completely oblivious to him. She pulled a duffel bag out from inside the mechanism and opened it. She sighed with relief. She turned to Eliot and flung him her bag. She began to skip back across to him, darting between the worst patches and coughing the whole time. Eliot looked inside the bag. It was full to the brim with money. What an idiot.

"You risked your life for money? You're more stupid than I thought!" Eliot shouted, as Anna jumped the last few steps to safety.

Anna simply scowled at him and grabbed the bag. "You absolute moron." Eliot muttered. "Can we go now? Or do you want to risk your life for petty cash again?" Anna shot him a look, but Eliot noticed tears brimming in her eyes. Maybe that was a touchy subject. Eliot followed Anna as she raced down the stairs and out of a back door.

When Anna got outside she let go of the breath she had inadvertently been holding and felt her knees buckle. Anna got ready for her head to hit the pavement as she fell but instead two rough hands grabbed her shoulders and hauled her up and into a hug. Strange, Anna thought, he doesn't seem like the hugging type. "You ever pull a stunt like that again and I'm leaving your sorry ass behind, got me?"

"Got you." Anna said breathlessly, grabbing onto Eliot's jacket. She didn't care if Eliot wasn't the hugging type, he was getting a hug. He deserved that much at least.

"Now let's get you back to Nate's place before I get implicated in another bakery fire." Eliot grumbled. Anna began to hobble towards the van but got no further than two steps before Eliot scooped her up and carried her to Lucille.

"Mention this and you're dead meat." Anna said. Eliot was sure he would never admit to carrying Anna, especially out of kindness rather than necessity.

Eliot put Anna down in her seat in the van and clambered into his own.

Anna beamed at him. "All in all I reckon that was pretty successful, don't you?"

* * *

**A/N: Hey, look! No cliff hanger! (Except for the burning building but that's not a cliff hanger really, is it?) Aren't you happy? You should be! Thank you very much for reading, now press the review button and send me your thoughts! You know you want to :D**

**TTFN!**


	11. Having Fun?

**A/N: Ciao! Some of you observant folks may have noticed that an entire chapter is missing! Dun. Dun. DUUNN! No worries guys, I didn't like it and it didn't fit too well and was kind of irrelevant so I got rid of it to make my timeline flow better... make sense? I hope so! I also edited the beginning of the new Chapter 9 so the continuity worked out. Yay for me making a mess of the story! Sorry bout that guys! :P Anyhoo... Enjoy!**

* * *

Anna knocked on Nate's door. "It's open!" Nate's voice was disgruntled. What had upset him this time?

"Okay, Grumpy-Pants, no need to take your coffee buzz out on me." Anna said as she pushed the door open and stepped inside. She looked at Nate who was glaring at her intensely. She smiled apologetically. "Sorry, you probably only just woke up. You don't seem like the morning type." Anna could have sworn she saw Nate's lips curl momentarily but knowing Nate she assumed it was a trick of the heat coming off his coffee.

Nate completely disregarded Anna's statement and looked out of the window. "The Boston Bakery is on fire." He mused aloud. Anna attempted to hide her shock but it didn't work out as planned. "You wouldn't have had anything to do with that, would you Anna?"

"Of course not." She said confidently. Maybe the early hour would inhibit Nate's skill for detecting a lie. Nate turned to look at her, although Anna could have sworn he was looking into her soul, not her eyes. "Maybe it was us, you know just a tad, only sort of, kind of, maybe, possibly…" Anna sighed. "Yeah it was us. Why?"

"Oh just wondering, so when the police ask if we saw anything I know what to say. What do you think; young hooligans? The police would eat that up, wouldn't they?" Nate said, Anna somehow found him terrifying but at the same time never wanted to leave his sight. But that's what his job was, con man from his slightly tilted hat to his over expensive shoes. Anna shrugged off the feeling that she'd heard this 'thing' before. But different. More sinister. Just plain worse.

Anna was about to comment on the creepiness when: "Ooo, I love a bit slander in the morning!" Sophie stretched and deftly ran down the spiral staircase. "Who are we lying about?"

"Anna and Eliot blew up a bakery." Sophie frowned, that did not sound good. "A damn good bakery. When Parker gets back we are so roasted! I say we, I mean you and you!" Hardison said pointing at Eliot and Anna.

Anna frowned at him. "Hey, just a point for you, Mr I'm-So-Freaking-Clever; I did not blow up a bakery. I did not even set a bakery on fire. My apartment, which is, well was, above the bakery was set on fire by persons unknown and-"

"Persons unknown? Where are you from? The Middle Ages?" Hardison asked, Eliot let out a single laugh and Nate smiled. Sophie winced; she was pretty sure offending Anna's language choice wasn't Hardison's greatest moment.

"Central London. And mind your bloody mouth." Anna said as she stormed through the door behind Nate's TV set up.

"Oh, she's a grumpy little kid, ain't she? All bark and no bite, I bet. Just snapping at my heels." Hardison said, Sophie shook her head.

"Hardison. Apologise." Sophie said simply.

"Why? I ain't done nothing wrong. I'm actually in the right for once!" Hardison said defensively. Sophie again noticed that Hardison always seemed to jump on the defence. Interesting, she thought.

"Apologise." Sophie said.

"No!" Hardison retorted defiantly.

"Yes!"

"I don't want to!"

"But you're going to."

"What if I don't?!"

"It's okay." Anna stepped back into the room, rubbing her eye. "I forgive you. Can I have my bag, please?" Eliot was still holding it and he didn't want to give it over just yet.

"What are you going to do with it? Count the money?" Eliot questioned, with an accusing tone in his voice but he hoped he was restraining himself. And he wasn't one to apologise.

"There's not just money in there, you twit! I'm not that shallow! God, you really are an idiot!" Anna grabbed the bag off Eliot and rummaged through it, ignoring the urge she had to storm out of the door and never talk to them again. She found the fake bottom of the bag, under all that money and pulled out a picture and a tiny teddy bear. "This bear, is the only thing I've kept from the orphanage. And this picture is of me," Anna gulped. She hadn't told anyone about this ever. But Eliot would think she was an idiot if she wasn't. That was the only reason. At least, that's what she was telling herself. "This is a picture of me, with my mother. So, there was a little more than just money in my bag."

"I'm sorry." Eliot mumbled. Maybe he was one for apologising.

"You don't have to apologise, I already forgave you." Anna said smiling and jumping into one of the bar stools in Nate's kitchen.

"I thought you forgave me!" Hardison exclaimed, he hadn't said anything too bad, had he?

"Oh, I'm still annoyed at you. I haven't forgiven you yet." Anna spat out the word 'you' like it was a foul taste in her mouth. Anna turned to Eliot, "Are you hungry?"

"Yeah, why?" Eliot said, he didn't get usually hungry but rescuing girls from burning buildings first thing in the morning always worked up an appetite.

"When you make breakfast, make me some?" Anna said, a grin emerging on her face. Hardison snorted with laughter. Eliot scowled at Anna. "Please?" Anna pouted at him and Eliot smiled. "Cooked breakfast for all you, huh?" The general consensus was that yes, cooked breakfast was a great idea and that Eliot should get cracking.

Whilst Eliot grumbled over a frying pan and Sophie carried on her game of perpetually flirting with Nate but refusing to act on it (Anna thought that was rather odd but she shrugged it off as a Sophie 'thing'), Anna walked over to Hardison who seemed to be playing some computer on his laptop. Anna leant over so her face was almost in his hair.

"Having fun?" She asked. Hardison squealed and jumped a foot in his chair, Anna backed away just in time for her teeth not to be knocked into her skull by Hardison's head.

"Jeez! Give me a freakin' heart attack, why don't you? Kid, I would kick your ass if Eliot didn't like you so much!" Hardison exclaimed. Anna stared at him, like his Nana used to do when he didn't say thank you. "Look, kid, I'm sorry I offended you, it's just… occasionally I forget you're just a kid. And I say stuff that I don't mean and it gets messes me up and it messes you up and it messes everyone up and it messes the con up and-"

"You know, a simple 'sorry' would have done." Anna teased. "Whatcha playing?" Anna jumped over the back of the sofa and landed, surprisingly gracefully, next to Hardison.

Hardison shrugged as he manipulated the furniture in the room he was looking at so it was all… leopard print? "Oh, Parker and Eliot got me Sims for my birthday so I thought I'd see how it was. You know. I don't think I'll like it cos-"

"It's aimed at 15-year-old girls, or as it turns out geeky hackers who have a thing for leopard print." Anna laughed and Hardison began resetting everything so the house was distinctly less safari.

"Oh, I was just seeing how many things I could turn leopard print on here. Hey look, the leopard print looks really cool in the shower, don't you think?" Hardison looked at Anna and for a moment there was silence before they both burst out into fits of giggles.

"We should try it out on Nate's some time just to make sure!" Anna said and they both cracked up again. Suddenly, Hardison's game closed and a red flashing alert thing came up with a video feed of the pub.

"Um, Nate, someone just broke into the back of the pub." Nate and Eliot left the kitchen and went over to see what Hardison was on about. "Nate they're coming upstairs."

"How do you know that?" Anna asked. All she could see was an empty bar downstairs and a red blob moving around on a blue and green background.

"I installed infrared cameras on the route upstairs. I usually have it off but I thought I'd turn it on after the fire and Parker and stuff." Hardison said. By this point, even Sophie had abandoned babysitting the breakfasts and had joined Nate and Eliot leaning over the back of the sofa.

Anna noticed Nate's whole demeanour change as he started to think. "Okay. Sophie, you and Anna are going upstairs. Push the button in the closet and the door will seal up and you'll be safe-"

"You have a button in your closet that seals your door?" Anna asked, slightly terrified by the situation and by Nate's over readiness.

"You don't?" He asked warily, clearly realising he sounded like a nut case. "Anyway… Anna, Sophie upstairs. Eliot you're up; front and centre. Hardison and I will keep an eye on the intruder from the far room. Any questions?" Before anyone could even think about thinking about a question, Nate spoke again. "Good. I'll give Sophie the all clear when it's okay to come down. Now go!"

Sophie grabbed Anna's arm and they both legged it upstairs. Anna opened the closet and, sure enough, inside was a tiny black button. Anna pushed it and the door whooshed shut and clanked. Anna got the feeling you'd need a siege engine and a small army to break through the door.

Anna and Sophie sat in silence for what felt like an eternity or two, just waiting for an all clear. Sophie fiddled with Nate's ties, straightening them all out on his rack whilst Anna sat on the floor because she felt like sitting on Nate's bed would just be plain weird. In all her waiting, she noted that Nate's room was incredibly tidy; in fact, she'd seen five-star hotels with more things out of place. Either Nate just happened to be a very tidy man (and by the state of the rest of his apartment, that wasn't the answer) or Sophie had spent a considerable amount of time here, fiddling.

Anna listened intently and eventually just about heard the door opening downstairs. Instead of the series of thuds and winces that usually accompanied Eliot's peace-keeping techniques Anna heard something much more familiar. "Hey guys! I'm back!"

"Parker?" Anna frowned momentarily and then grinned. "Parker!" Sophie hit the button in Nate's closet just in time for Anna to wrench open the door and leap down the stairs. "Parker!" Anna jumped off the bottom step and hurled herself at Parker, who stood waiting for Anna to attack her. When Anna reached Parker, she hugged her as tight as she physically could, pinning Parker's arms down so she couldn't hug Anna even she wanted to. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too, Anna." Parker managed to say breathlessly. All this hugging was bad for her health. Eliot, Nate and Hardison all emerged from their hiding spots and were about to

Anna noticed she might have been hugging Parker a little too hard and let go, taking a step back. "Oops. Sorry."

Eliot, Hardison and Nate all emerged from their hiding spots and were about to let rip about why breaking into an apartment with Eliot inside is a bad idea when Parker looked at them, shrugged and went back to her conversation with Anna. "No worries. Just good to see you. That hospital was driving me mental." Parker said, giggling. Anna tilted her head to the side, like she used to do when she was little and she couldn't solve a sudoku.

"You broke out, didn't you?" Anna said accusingly. She looked at Parker and Parker just giggled and shrugged.

"Parker!" Eliot, Hardison and Nate chorused. Admittedly, having Parker back was helpful, but they wanted her back fixed and ready to help them rather than bored and with a black cast on her arm and an unknown toxin in her bloodstream.

"Please tell me you at least discharged yourself!" Anna said, completely missing the point.

"'Course I did!" Parker said, beaming and unaware that everyone else in the room was trying not to strangle her. Anna smiled, relieved that they didn't have to go and visit the hospital again. "Now, who wants a Danish pastry?! I know a great place!"

Anna looked out the window and tried not to laugh, "Yeah, about that…"

* * *

**A/N: Did you like? Send me a review, please! Even if you just want to rant about my awful planning and subsequent chapter hacking! I apologise! Thanks for reading, you've been lucky this week because I've been on half-term and had nothing to do (except homework, but who cares about that?) so I have been writing a lot! My updates will probably decrease significantly for the next fours weeks but then I'm back on holiday! Yay for Easter! Chocolate and bunnies! Yay!**

**TTFN!**


	12. Not Good At All

**A/N: Ciao! How are you lovely lot? Enjoying Spring? Yay for sun! Or more snow as the case may be, like seriously what the hell is with the snow?! Anyway... Read and review dearies! I need some cheering up as Suits is ruining my life (I'm watching it in British time so we just had Harvey's mock trial... ugh j'ai triste!) Anyhoo... Read! Review! Listen to Disney music! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage. Not even Parker's driving 'skills' or Hardison's sass.**

* * *

Danver leaned back in his chair, this was almost too easy. "After a few signatures, you'll never have to see him again." He said, smiling. Sophie and Anna exchanged a look and Sophie signed a well-practised fake signature.

Jenkins took a deep breath and prepared himself to interrupt his boss' meeting. "Sir?" He said sheepishly.

"What have I told you about knocking, Jenkins?" Danver said with disgust, barely looking at Jenkins, who was standing, terrified, in the door way.

"Sorry, sir, but it's about that thing you asked me to do." Jenkins said, Danver immediately sat up and looked at him. He glared at Jenkins for a moment before turning to Sophie and Anna, suddenly quite cheerful.

"Oh, yes. Sorry ladies, this is important. I will be back here in just a moment." Danver said as he smiled sickeningly.

"Oh, don't mind us." Sophie said, straining to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. Anna bit back a laugh as Danver stepped outside.

Jenkins decided against waiting for Danver to ask him what news he had, for fear that Danver would explode in his face. "You were right, sir. It's Anna." He said quietly so that the clients couldn't hear. He didn't really understanding why on earth Danver cared that the girl inside the door wasn't really called Elizabeth.

"You little minx, hiding for all these years." He said, as his lips curled into one of his very rare genuine smiles.

"We just have a slight problem, sir." Jenkins said, trying not to whimper.

"What?!" Danver whispered, though it was clear that if they were anywhere that Danver would be screaming his head off.

"Well, we got more than one match on the fingerprint. Seven in fact." Jenkins flicked through pictures of seven different ID cards on his iPad, none of which bared Anna's name. "You do know she's a wanted criminal in three separate countries, sir?" Instead of looking worried or even slightly concerned, Danver grinned terrifyingly. Jenkins knew that look, that was his 'I plan to destroy you' look.

"It'll be even more fun then." Danver's grin wasn't fading.

"What'll be more fun, sir?" Jenkins asked. Danver pulled at his tie slightly and walked back inside. "Sir?"

"Sorry about that, ladies." Danver said, re-entering the room. Anna noticed there was a spring in his step and something more about him that wasn't there when he left the room. That didn't exactly make her any happier. "Now, I just need to go over these legalities once more before I can hand this over to my colleagues."

Anna groaned and she could almost hear Parker stifling a laugh back in Nate's apartment. "Do we have to? Haven't you gone over these stupid papers about twenty different times?" Anna snapped.

Danver gave Sophie an 'I'll handle this' look. "Elizabeth, how about you wait outside? There's a wonderful little pretzel cart there." Anna wasn't expecting his reply and couldn't help letting slip a smile. She'd always had a thing for pretzels and now there was just a cart outside full of them? Someone was clearly looking out for her.

"That okay, Mum?" Anna asked, her smile spreading across her face.

"Let her do it, Sophie." Nate said into Sophie's ear. "Eliot, can you get yourself into some sort of tactical position?" Nate asked. Anna heard Eliot grunt at Nate's comment, what was he grumpy about now?

"Some sort? This isn't just throwing punches, it's a science!" Eliot said grumpily.

"No, what I do is a science, what you do is-" Hardison snapped. Sophie noticed Anna's face twitch with anger, that wasn't a good sign.

"Balance, precision, wire cutting, laser jumping. Science." Parker said. Anna wanted to hit something. If they didn't shut up she would scream and blow it. All their hard work would be for nothing.

"Shut up!" Anna hissed, whilst Sophie coughed louder than necessary to cover.

"Sure, sweetie pie. I'll see you in a minute, okay?" Anna stood up to leave but Sophie grabbed the front of her dress and pulled her down to kiss her forehead. "Have fun. And try not to eat too many pretzels." She said.

Anna shivered. That felt normal. Right. Real. That just scared her. She had never had a true family… well, she had but not for a long long time. Not since her mother. "Thanks Mum." Anna said, meaning it more than she should.

"Back to that restraining order." Danver said, with one of his plastered smiles.

"Thank you so much, Mr Danver. If only there was some way I could repay you for, for all of this." Sophie said, smiling and trying not to be sick.

"Oh, I can think of few." Danver said, resisting the urge to cackle.

Anna picked up her bag and headed for the door, where the ditzy assistant was hovering. He pressed the call button for the elevator and she smiled at him. The door opened and she stepped inside. The bell boy inside the lift smiled at her, but more out of habit than anything else. "Where to, ma'am?" Anna wasn't listening particularly and so reached over and pushed the bottom button herself.

* * *

The bell boy frowned, he hated it when people ignored him; it just wound him up so much he wanted to push all the buttons on the elevator so they had to stop at every floor. "Which part of 'Shut the actual hell up!' do we not understand?!" The girl (whose visitor badge informed the bell boy that her name was in fact Elizabeth) said, finally letting off some steam. The bell boy looked at her, confused. Was she talking to him?

"You should be sorry!" She said again, but this time it was obvious to the bell boy that she wasn't talking to him. Her head was tilted slightly and she was looking around at the mirrored walls rather than at anything in particular. Was she talking to herself? Maybe it wasn't safe for her to be alone with someone in an elevator… or anywhere for that matter.

"No, you can wait outside." She paused, as if listening to the other half of her non-existent conversation. "That's a great idea! You can come inside and blow my cover to smithereens right in front of the one guy it was designed to fool! Great idea!" The girl said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Okay, the girl was a lunatic. Even so, there wasn't much he could do except back into the corner and give her a 'stay away from me' kind of look. "See you there." The girl glanced over at him, took a moment to read his expression and then looked at him with disgust, "What?! It's like you've never seen a girl talk to herself before!" She snapped. Luckily for him, the doors opened and she stormed out.

Talk about moody.

* * *

Eliot watched as Anna smiled and left the building. He paid the guy at the new pretzel stand, which had been set up where the coffee stand had been. Surprisingly attempting to kill your customers kind of ruined your public image. Strange that. Eliot grabbed two tubs of pretzels just as Anna jogged over. Anna pulled one of the tubs out of his grip and began munching on her little slice of heaven. Eliot scanned the crowd, as per usual, looking for something that wasn't right. Unfortunately, he found that something. There was an unmarked black van parked on the pavement closest to the pretzel stand.

"You seeing what I'm seeing, Nate?" Eliot said, glancing momentarily at Anna who was engrossed in her pretzels and completely oblivious to the van full of people on their way to cut her life expectancy rather short.

"What would that be?" Nate asked. The voice in her ear woke Anna up and she glanced at the van, trying to do so nonchalantly and not exactly succeeding.

"Unmarked black van. Probably full of muscle. Danver's ordering some pretty odd things for a life insurance salesman." Eliot said, watching the van intently.

"They might not be from Danver. They might not even be for me. They might not even exist. It could just be a van, you know." Anna suggested.

"No one's that lucky." Eliot grunted.

"Especially not me." Anna said to herself.

"What?" Eliot said. Anna realised that her comment had actually been out loud and tried to cover it with a smile.

"Hmm?" She asked. Eliot shrugged and went back to concentrating on the van and plotting a safe (-ish) escape.

Just as Eliot had planned an exit strategy and was about to drag Anna out of there, the sliding door opened to reveal four beefy guys in black suits with visible comms systems. And by the way their suits fitted them; they all had two guns in shoulder holsters. They looked around, clearly searching for someone. Or more accurately: Anna.

Not good. Not good at all.

"Eliot. What are they doing?" Anna didn't like where this was going one little bit. Violence really wasn't her thing.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Eliot snapped, his mind reeling with possibilities, none of them with completely desirable outcomes.

"Muscly guys with guns are your thing." Anna said, as if that was a decent enough justification.

"Yeah, but mind-reading isn't." Eliot said, shooting Anna a look. The guy at the front of the pack spotted Anna and whispered something. Anna had never been good at lip-reading and the extra stress wasn't helping.

"Eliot!" She whispered insistently. Eliot put his hand on her shoulder and Anna felt at least some of her panic diffuse.

"I got you." He said simply, but it meant a lot to Anna. Eliot turned to man at the pretzel stand, he pulled a hundred-dollar bill out of who knows where and handed it to him. "If anything happens, you didn't see anything. Okay?"

The guy at the stand almost fainted at the sight of the bill but managed to take it without swooning. "Whatever Ben Franklin says." He said, smiling and pocketing the money.

As the men advanced towards Anna, she turned to Eliot. "Maybe they just want some pretzels?"

"Yeah, 'cause they look like the snacking type." Eliot said, rolling his eyes and trying to concentrate.

The guy at the front of the group and the obvious leader made a hand gesture and suddenly all the guys had drawn their guns. For a moment no one quite registered what was happening but then suddenly everyone backed off giving the gunmen as much space as they could physically allow them.

"Okay Eliot, I take that back they do not look like the pretzel type." Anna said, laughing nervously.

"Stay behind me." He ordered. Anna took a step back and crouched slightly so she was 'well-hidden' by Eliot.

"Yeah, like I was going to do anything else." Anna said as the men came within point-blank range.

Eliot flexed his shoulders and smiled at the men. "Boys, we don't need to use guns. We can do this the old-fashioned way." He said, in a unsettlingly calm voice. Before the men could register what was happening, Eliot had head-butted and floored the first guy and was advancing on the second.

* * *

Sophie sat in Danver's office. She tried to keep a level head, but all she could hear was some guys grunting and people being mashed up by Eliot. Not exactly calming stuff.

It took most of her conscious effort to carry on smiling and nodding without ripping out her earpiece, screaming at Eliot and stamping on it, (whether she wanted to stamp on the earpiece or Eliot was undecided for the moment). However she managed to keep her cool until the violence stopped.

* * *

Eliot punched the last guy round the head and he dropped like a stone. "Is that all you got?" Eliot jeered at the almost unconscious men.

"Oh, I've got something even better. I've got the girl." An unfamiliar voice said from behind Eliot. Eliot span round to see a huge guy with muscled arms covered with tattoos grimacing and holding Anna. His left hand was clamped over her mouth and his right was pressing a gun into her neck. "Now, you can back off and we won't hurt her for now and we might even give you a head start. Or you can take a single step and I'll shoot her and then you. How do you like your chances?"

Eliot realised he had very few options, but there was no way he was going to back down. "Bite me." He said, his voice snarling.

Anna looked at Eliot and her eyes brightened, as if she was smiling. Eliot didn't take this new-found happiness as well as he should have. After all, Anna was Anna and her escapes were ropey at best. Anna managed to do something so that the guy flinched momentarily. Just as he flinched, his grip loosened ever so slightly and Anna opened her mouth and for some reason the guy staggered back, grabbing his now-bleeding hand and looking rather shocked and just generally creeped out.

Anna just stood there smiling; as if she'd just recited a poem not incapacitated a psychotic gun-for-hire. Before the guy could regain his bearings, Eliot grabbed Anna's arm and ran across to Lucille, where Nate and Hardison were sitting, mildly terrified. Even Parker was slightly worried. It took a few moments but eventually Nate spoke. "Did you just do what I think you just did?" He asked, not entirely sure if he actually wanted to know the answer.

"What? He said 'bite me' and we didn't exactly have an escape plan so I improvised." Anna explained. Improvisation was her 'thing', luckily for her she worked best under pressure and when she had no feasible options left. Unfeasible was her forte.

"By biting his hand until he bled?!" Eliot exclaimed. Even he thought that was disturbing, and violence was his day job.

"Oh, I licked him first so he'd loosen up momentarily so I could open my mouth." Anna said, yet again speaking as if her statement tied up any loose ends instead of raising more questions.

"Oh, and that makes everything better." Eliot said sarcastically. Anna shrugged as if to say 'Hey, don't blame me' because clearly it wasn't her fault _at all_.

"I managed to grab one of the goons' phones. It has a couple numbers in it but it looks like a burner. Probably just a random hit, I mean, Anna looks pretty rich. They probably just tailed the Maybach until they found her." Eliot said as convincingly as possible, Anna smiled because for some reason she actually believed him.

"You guys want a ride out of here?" Parker said from the driver seat. Hardison and Nate hadn't exactly been paying attention when they had let Parker drive.

"Yes. Go." Eliot said, almost simultaneously with Anna saying, "Nah, I'm cool."

Everyone looked at Anna, confused. Anna spoke, but with her extra-British accent. "I'll just get Carl to pick me up when my mu finally finishes that stupid agreement with Mr Danver." Anna said, smiling. Hardison sighed.

"Seriously? I better go get that Maybach again." Hardison said, standing up and brushing himself down. "Since I gotta go be some stupid driver-"

"Chauffeur." Anna corrected.

"Whatever." Hardison said, sighing. "Since I gotta go be some stupid 'chauffeur', I'm gonna let you guys deal with the phone and the mercenaries whilst I go drive a damn car." Hardison huffed. Eliot gave him a look.

"Sounds hard, all that steering and looking out of a windscreen." He snarked. Hardison faked laughter for a moment before glaring at Eliot.

"I will see y'all in a minute. Ciao. Come on Anna let's go be posh." Hardison said, making Anna smile which revealed a slight red tinge on Anna's incisors. Ew.

"Cool." Anna and Hardison jumped out of the van and headed off to find Hardison's car (well, it wasn't legally his but no one really minded).

When the door was shut, Nate looked at Eliot who sensed some big question was coming. Nate tapped a button on Hardison's precious keyboard so Anna's comms no longer received or transmitted anything. "How likely is it that that actually was just a random hit?" He asked. Eliot's face said everything.

"Almost none. There was way too much training in those guys for that to be random; someone's got their eye on her." Eliot admitted.

"Well, that's not good." Nate said, his slight distance from the conversation indicating he was either listening to Sophie on comms or formulating another one of his crazy plans. Or both.

"Nope. Not good at all." Eliot agreed. Things weren't looking too great in Anna's future, Eliot didn't need a fake psychic to tell him that much.

* * *

**A/N: Exciting stuff, non? My French is amazing. Like seriously, I deserve a Nobel Prize or something. Just kidding, I gave it up before my GCSEs :D Did you like it? Well, tell me! Did you hate it? Well, tell me! Do you have any more conspiracies theories? Well, tell me! Are you super awesome? Well, tell me! :D Thank you dearies! Your time and love and internet hugging is much appreciated in this rough patch in my fangirling life. ;)**

**TTFN! **


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